Mended by You
by Rach1989
Summary: Rachel graduated high school with a secret, a secret that almost broke her, now 6 years later she finds herself having to face her demons and rebuild her life in a way that she never thought possible.
1. Nowhere left to Run

**Here we go again, I'm back with yet another Blainchel story. I can't help it, they won't leave me alone. I've had this idea for a while now, I think ever since I finished writing 'How did it end up like this?' but I decided to focus on 'Lose Control', for a little light relief I guess. For any new readers, you don't need to have read those two mentioned to understand this story, they are in no way connected, it's just my muse getting the better of me.**

**I know it's a little vague at the moment, but obviously this is just the opening chapter, we will be learning more about Rachel's back story, getting to know Amy a little more, and developing the wonder that is a Blainchel, and maybe we'll see some of the other ND members pop up throughout the story. I know roughly what I'm looking for in this story, so hopefully you'll stick with me, and join me for the ride.**

**Disclaimer - I don't own Glee, all events are fictional. **

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><p>Rachel groaned quietly as the sound of <em>'Don't Stop Believing'<em> filled her room, she knew it was stupid to hold some sort of affection to that song after six years, but she couldn't help it, it reminded her of a simpler time, a time when she was free to think about her dreams and how she was going to take over the world, one stage at a time. She tried not to dwell too much on her time at McKinley, it only filled her with sadness and made her realise on how much she had had to sacrifice to get to where she was now. _A Mother_. Falling pregnant at the age of 18 was never part of the Rachel Berry master plan, it was then that Rachel realised that sometime the fates had a way of throwing you a curve ball, and you had to just go with it until you found your way again. She showered quickly before walking into her daughter's bedroom, smiling when she noticed that her little girl was sitting up in bed just waiting for her mother to arrive. She perched herself on the edge of her bed and opened her arms, to which the young girl gratefully crawled into.

"You ready to start Kindergarten today, Ames?" the little girl nodded enthusiastically, and lifted her head to give her mother a toothy grin. Rachel smiled and kissed the top of her head, continuing to hold her close for a few more precious moments. She couldn't believe how quickly time had passed her by. There were only a few people who know about Amy, her father's of course and her mother – Shelby. Rachel had been to ashamed to tell any of her fellow Glee Club members that she had fallen pregnant, so the day after graduation, Rachel flew out to live with Shelby and Beth in New York, and she hadn't spoken to any of them since. They had tried to contact her of course, but Rachel ignored their calls and e-mails, she had made her father's promise not to giver her location away, she didn't want to found again. She wasn't the same Rachel Berry that they had grown up with, and she didn't want them looking at her in a different way, she wanted them to remember her for who she was and not what she had turned into.

"Come on then, let's get you ready," Rachel smiled as she lifted Amy from her lap and walked over to her daughter's small closet and pulled out the outfit that her daughter had chosen the night before.

"Mummy, do you think they'll like me?" Amy asked quietly as Rachel placed her outfit on her bed. Rachel sighed quietly and crouched down so she was at her daughter's eye level.

"Of course they're going to like you," Rachel smiled, "You're going to have so much fun, and you'll make a ton of friends, and there are going to be so many new toys to play with, and I know for a fact that you'll be singing new songs everyday," At the mention of singing, Amy's face lit up and Rachel giggled quietly, amazed that even at the age of five how similar Amy was to Rachel.

"Amy, you're toast is going cold!" Rachel shouted for the third time, determined to make herself heard over her daughter's CD player, she often regretted allowing Shelby to buy her one for Christmas, but it was one of her daughter's pride possessions, so Rachel had relented and allowed her to keep it in her bedroom.

"I'm coming Mummy," Amy giggled as she walked into the kitchen, her CD still playing loudly in the background. Rachel rolled her eyes as Amy sat down at the table, before passing her plate and pouring her a fresh glass of orange juice. Whilst Amy tucked into her breakfast Rachel picked up her daughter's bag and packed her lunch inside. She glanced at Amy who was humming along to her music happily, before she walked back into her bedroom to finish getting herself ready. It had been such a struggle over the last six years, coping with being a single mother in such a big city, money had been so tight for a while now, but Rachel was tough, she had dealt with rejection her entire life, she rallied through and eventually she managed to get her life together. They hadn't been living in this apartment for too long, Rachel hadn't had the chance to put her own personal stamp on things yet, but it was their home and Rachel was pretty happy.

They walked to school that morning, Amy skipping at her mother's side with excitement as they boarded the subway, Rachel admired her daughter's enthusiasm as she continued to ask her questions on what Kindergarten was really like, what were the other children like, did she think the teacher would be nice, or would he be scary like in some of Mummy's old films. Rachel just smiled and clasped her daughter's hand, assuring her that everything would be fine, and that she was going to have the most fun today, and couldn't wait to hear all about it when she returned later that day to collect her.

Blaine Anderson smiled happily to himself as he admired his classroom; it was a routine of his now, spending a couple of minutes every morning admiring the work that his students had completed only days previously. He knew that this wasn't always his dream, during his school years he was certain that he was going to be the next best thing, he and his then boyfriend – Kurt Hummel – were hell bent on taking over the world. But throughout college, he realised that he wasn't ready to tackle the shady business that was show business, so instead he continued with his studying and tackled the ever-changing world of education. Now he couldn't imagine doing anything different. He loved his job, he loved the teaching staff and the friendships he had formed with them, he loved the students and how no two conversations were ever the same with them, but he also loved working hand in hand with the parents, knowing that alongside them he was helping to shape a generation in some way. He wasn't with Kurt anymore, he hadn't been since college, but they had remained close friends, just like he had tried to keep in touch with the majority of New Directions. He could hear the excited chatter of children getting nearer, so he gave his classroom one final inspection before heading over to his desk making sure that all the necessary documents were in place, he had a new student starting today, he knew that it could be a stressful experience for both the parents and the student, but it wasn't the thought of a nervous child that struck him, it was the child's surname that caused him to pause for thought. _Berry_. He sighed quietly, thinking back to the girl that he had once known in High School, it had been almost six years now, but no one had heard from her. He shook his head, he didn't like to think about that too much, they had been so close during their senior year, her leaving like that had really shook him up.

"Ready to let them in?" Molly, his assistant asked. Blaine nodded before walking over and opening the door to his students and parents.

Rachel pushed the door open and followed the rest of the parents towards the Kindergarten classroom, she noticed Amy's grip tighten as they walked further into the building, she paused and glanced down at her daughter, noticing the little girl's nervous expression. She smiled down at her and nodded before the two of them walked into the busy cloakroom desperately trying to fine Amy's own coat hook. Of course with a name like Berry, they found Amy's hook right next to the classroom door. Rachel crouched down and helped Amy out of her coat as she listened in on the other parent's conversation.

"Peter simply loves coming to Kindergarten now, you wouldn't believe he was the same child as six months ago,"

"I think Mr Anderson has something to do with that, he's so good with the children, Alice never stops talking about him."

Rachel smiled to herself as she hung Amy's coat onto her hook, she knew that Amy was nervous about her first day, even if she didn't always show it, but she was pleased that the parents had nothing but good words for the teacher. She had done her research of local school's when she was apartment hunting and this school had come highly recommended. Rachel was pulled from her thoughts as she heard the children around shrieking happily, she smiled at Amy who pushed herself behind her, as the children started scurrying into the classroom.

"Come on Ames, we'll go in together," Rachel grinned, trying to clasp Amy's hand from behind her back, the cloakroom seemed to much bigger now, the other parents quickly clearing out as they said goodbye to their children.

"Mummy, I'm scared," Amy whispered, Rachel turned around and smiled at her daughter, pulling her into a tight embrace.

"There's nothing to be scared of sweetheart," she told her in a soothing tone, Amy buried her face into her mothers chest and Rachel just sighed as she gently stroked her daughter's hair.

"Well, who do we have here?" Rachel stood up, clasping her daughter's hand inside of hers as she heard a male's voice behind her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, she's just shy," Rachel smiled as she turned around, gasping when she saw the smiling face in front of her, her eyes widened in horror, as she backed against the wall, pulling Amy with her, not that the young girl needed any persuasion.

"B-Blaine?" Rachel choked. Realisation hit Blaine like a ton of bricks, he glanced at Rachel again, and then back at the young girl who was trying to hide behind her, she was like a miniature Rachel. He was sure that he'd stopped breathing for a minute, only coming back around when the principal turned the corner and clapped his back.

"Ah Mr Anderson, I see you've met your new student," Blaine blinked as he tried to regain his composure, "Miss Berry, I assure you that little Amy will be in good hands with Mr Anderson here." Rachel gave him a forced smile and nodded as the principal continued walking through the building.

"So you're Amy then?" Blaine asked, clearing his throat and crouching down to Amy's level, Amy nodded shyly and slowly stepped out from behind her mother, "Well, my name is Mr Anderson, we're going to have lots of fun together with the other boys and girls," Rachel watched on as Blaine talked to her daughter, and the way Amy seemed to connect with him instantly.

"Molly!" Blaine shouted, standing up abruptly, soon after a young blonde woman poked her head out of the classroom and smiled at Blaine, "This is Amy Berry, why don't you take her to meet some of the other children?" Molly nodded and walked towards Amy, crouching down to her level.

"Tell me Amy, do you like singing?" Molly asked, Amy's eyes lit up as she turned to face her mother, who smiled and nodded.

"Why don't you come and show me some of your favourite songs?" Molly suggested, holding out her hand to the little girl. Amy glanced at her mother one more time, before slowly taking Molly's hand and walking towards the classroom, only stopping one time to wave at her mother. Rachel waved back, feeling her eyes fill with tears as she realised that her little girl was growing up.

"Are you in a rush?" Blaine asked quietly, Rachel shook her head and Blaine sat down on one of the benches between the various coats, gesturing for Rachel to do the same.

"I can't believe you're really here," he smiled, "It's been what, 6 years? Where have you been all this time?" Rachel gulped, trying to avoid answering.

"Do you think she'll be okay," Rachel asked, gesturing towards the classroom, "Amy can be an extremely shy child, even if she does follow me sometime for craving attention."

"So, she's really yours then?" Blaine asked, feeling stupid just asking the question, but it had been six years, it was a lot to take in. Rachel nodded quietly, "Why didn't you tell any of us that you were pregnant? We would've understood."

"You know what, I do have somewhere to be actually," Rachel said quickly, jumping up from the bench, "I'll be back at 3 for Amy," she said already heading towards the door.

"Rachel wait!" Blaine called, but Rachel was gone. He sighed and ran a hand through his curly hair before walking back into his noisy classroom, he spotted Amy instantly; she was in the arts and crafts area, with Molly and a group of other children. He walked over to them, and smiled fondly when Amy held up a pink piece of paper covered in gold stars.

"I made this for my mummy," she said proudly,

"I'm sure she'll love it," he told her, staring at the gold stars on the page as if they were mocking him. He didn't know what to do next, it was clear that life hadn't turned out the way that Rachel had planned, but he had never known her to be this quiet and jumpy, it unnerved him more seeing her like that then it did when she did a disappearing act for 6 years.

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><p><strong>Thoughts?<strong>


	2. I remember

**Thank you so much for the overwhelming response to the first chapter, you have no idea how happy it made me to read all of the comments that you all left and to find that you're actually enjoying it, it's just incredible! **

**This chapter feature a few flashbacks from both Rachel and Blaine's point of view, and there will be more to come as the story continues, I want to include the back story to this story whilst trying to move it along at the same time if you know what I mean? I know you've all been speculating over who Amy's dad is, and it's something you're going to have wait a while for I'm afraid. **

**I'm sorry in advance if you feel this chapter is slightly depressing, I promise that things will get lighter as the story continues, but right now Rachel has got some issues to work through, again something that will be addressed as the story continues.**

**Hope you enjoy the next installment**

**Enjoy x**

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><p><em>It was the day of graduation at McKinley High, and emotions were running high as everyone prepared to go their own separate ways. New Directions had made their way into the comfort and familiarity of the choir room one final time.<em>

"_I'm going to miss you guys so much," Rachel sniffed as she hugged Blaine and Kurt tightly. Everyone was a little emotional, so no one really took much of notice of Rachel's emotional state. _

"_Rachel, we're all going to Puck's party tomorrow night," Kurt laughed, wiping his eyes as the rest of New Directions filed into the room. "We've got all summer with each other!" _

"_Right, the party, of course," Rachel nodded and sniffed quietly, her eyes unable to meet his, "If you'll excuse me a minute, I'm going to goodbye to Mr Schue," Kurt nodded and clasped Blaine's hand tightly._

"_We've finally graduated!" he grinned, leaning in to kiss Blaine, "Our future starts here," Blaine nodded in agreement, as Mercedes walked over to congratulate the two and discuss their plans for the summer. Blaine nodded in the right places, but couldn't help noticing Rachel stood on the opposite side of the room staring absently out of the one of the windows. Gently, he let go of Kurt's hand and walked over to join Rachel, leaving Kurt and Mercedes talking._

"_Hey, Rachel. Are you okay?" Blaine asked as he neared her, he placed his hand on her back softly, she flinched and turned around, trembling slightly, until she realised that it was Blaine talking to her._

"_Yeah, I guess I just can't believe we're finally leaving this place," she said quietly,_

"_Rachel, you've been dreaming of this the entire time I've known you," Blaine grinned; Rachel forced a smile onto her teary face and nodded._

"_I guess I'm just a little overwhelmed," she sighed before stepping forward and hugging him tightly, "You're a very good friend Blaine, I'm so lucky to have had a friend like you."_

"_Hey, you don't get rid of me that easily!" Blaine smirked as Rachel pulled away; Rachel sniffed and nodded as her dad's approached the two of them._

"_Are you ready to go Rachel, or do you need a few more minutes with your friends?" her father, Hiram, asked, as Kurt and Mercedes walked over to join them._

"_No, I'm ready," she told him, forcing out a smile. She pulled her friends into yet another tight hug before pulling away and giving them a watery smile._

"_So, we'll see you at the party tomorrow night?" Kurt asked, she glanced at Blaine and Mercedes who were stood at his side and nodded slightly._

"_Sure," she said quietly, her father patted her back and guided her out of the choir room one final time._

_She began sobbing quietly as the three of them walked through the McKinley High School parking lot; Hiram and Leroy watched as Rachel silently opened the car door and slipped inside, not saying a word to either of them._

"_You don't have to go through with this you know Rachel, we'll support you either way." Hiram smiled as he sat in the drivers seat and turned to face his daughter, who had taken to playing with the hem of her skirt._

"_They are your friends after all Rachel, you could at least tell them where you're going. You don't have to completely shut them out." Leroy continued. Rachel lifted her eyes to face them properly for the first time in days._

"_No, they can never know," she said adamantly._

Rachel blinked furiously as she remembered that day vividly; she'd tried to hard to block out the painful memories of her old life, but some times they had a way of creeping up on her. It had been six years and she had never expected to run into anyone from her old life here, let alone at her daughter's Kindergarten class. _She was freaking out! _She could barely remember how she'd gotten out of the school without passing out, but somehow she had ended up on Shelby's doorstep in tears. Shelby had taken one look at Rachel and quickly ushered her into her apartment.

"You want to tell me what happened?" Shelby asked as Rachel curled up on the edge of her sofa. Rachel sniffed and shook her head, Shelby nodded and walked into her kitchen, pouring two mugs of coffee, she hadn't witnessed a breakdown like this in quite some time, and Rachel had been known to have a few, especially during her first year living in New York. She sighed quietly before walking back into the lounge and silently handing her daughter the steaming mug.

"I ran into Blaine today," Rachel said quietly after taking a sip from her coffee, Shelby frowned as she stared at Rachel trying to work out whom she was talking to, she thought hard then remembered the name.

"You're friend from High School, Blaine?" Shelby questioned and Rachel nodded as she placed her coffee mug on the table in front of her.

"He's Amy's teacher," Rachel explained, "I took one look at him and everything came flooding back, I was 18 again and reliving everything that had happened," Shelby nodded and moved from her chair to join Rachel on the sofa and pull her into a hug, attempting to sooth her daughter as she started panicking again.

"Did you talk to him?" Shelby asked quietly, Rachel shook her head and glanced at the floor.

"I'm never going to be able to escape this, am I?" Shelby smiled softly as Rachel lifted her eyes, "It's going to eat away at me for the rest of my life."

"It's been six years Rachel, you're not the same girl you was back then," Shelby said calmly, "Blaine was always a good friend to you, and now that he's Amy's teacher maybe it's the fates way of telling you that you have to start rebuilding your life?"

"I don't know if I can." Rachel mumbled, "I've fought so long for six years, seeing Blaine again, it's made everything seem so raw."

"I know it's not going to be easy Rachel, but you can do this on your terms. You don't have to tell him anything that you're not comfortable with, it can be like you're meeting him for the first time again." Rachel nodded quietly as she considered what Shelby was telling her.

"I'm scared Shelby," Rachel admitted after a few minutes, "What if he finds out the truth, then rejects me. I don't think I'm strong enough for that."

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><p><em>New Directions had gathered at Puck's house for his annual end of school party, everyone knew that this would possibly be the last party that the entire group would be able to attend together, they had known that this moment had been coming, but now that it was finally here it was dawning on them that everything was changing around them. Blaine glanced around the garden as he watched his friends mingle, of course a party at Puck's had to include a wide selection of alcohol, so watching his friends experiment with that was also pretty amusing. Tonight he'd agreed with Kurt that he was going to be the designated driver, after all, Kurt was always the responsible one, and Blaine decided that he deserved a night off. He walked through the garden, smiling at Mike, Tina and Artie who were in deep conversation at the drinks table. He noticed Puck, Finn and Sam tossing a football around at the bottom of the garden with Santana, Brittany and Quinn lay on sun loungers in the middle of the garden. He grinned when he finally caught up with his boyfriend who was sharing drinks with Mercedes. He smiled and wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist.<em>

"_Hey you," Kurt grinned, turning around in Blaine's arms and placing his arms around Blaine's neck._

"_So what are you two talking about?" Blaine asked, sitting down on the bench and pulling Kurt down with him._

"_We were trying to call Rachel, she still hasn't shown yet," Mercedes explained, Blaine nodded; he had found it strange that Rachel wasn't here. She was usually one of the first to arrive; she felt it was part of her duty as Glee Club captain. _

"_I'll try calling her," Blaine smiled, pulling his phone out of his pocket, he dialled her number and frowned when it went directly to voicemail. Rachel never turned her phone off; Blaine glanced at his boyfriend and sighed._

"_How long have you two been calling her?" he asked, _

"_For the last hour," Kurt stated, "It's not like her not show, or at least call one of us." Blaine nodded and dialled her number again, rolling him eyes when it went to voicemail again._

"_You think I should go and see if she's okay?" he asked, Mercedes and Kurt shrugged, as they noticed Mike and Tina now dancing in the middle of the garden._

"_You two stay here, enjoy the party. I won't be long, she's probably just running late," Blaine smiled, kissing Kurt quickly before heading out to his car and driving over to Rachel's house. As he drove Blaine had a sickening feeling in his stomach that he couldn't shake, he'd only known Rachel for little over a year, but he had never known her to be late for anything. He pulled up outside of Rachel's house and noticed that her dad's cars were sitting on the driveway. He took a deep breath as he walked up to the door and knocked firmly. He waited a few seconds until Rachel's dad, Leroy, answered._

"_Oh hello Blaine," he said quietly, Blaine smiled politely as Hiram; Rachel's other dad joined his partner at the door._

"_Sorry to intrude, but I was wondering whether Rachel was still here, everyone is waiting for her at Noah's party," Blaine gulped as he watched the Berry men exchange a sad glance._

"_I'm afraid Rachel isn't here Blaine," Hiram told him,_

"_Oh, I must have missed her on the drive over," Blaine smiled, "I tried calling her, but her phone was off,"_

"_Blaine, you don't understand." Leroy sighed, stepping forward and placing his hand on the young man's shoulders, "Rachel is no longer in Lima, she left last night." Blaine burrowed his eyebrows together in confusion; Rachel hadn't mentioned anything about leaving when they spoke yesterday, and Rachel never kept anything from him, along with Kurt she was his best friend._

"_Do you know when she'll be back?" Blaine asked quietly. Leroy sighed quietly and shook his head._

"_I'm sorry Blaine, but she's not coming back." Blaine felt like he had been punched in the stomach as Leroy Berry delivered the news; he shook his head and fumbled with his phone in his pocket, dialling Rachel's number again – nothing._

"_She wouldn't leave without telling me," Blaine mumbled, trying to convince himself more than anyone else, he paused and looked at the two men in front of him, "Where has she gone?"_

"_I'm sorry Blaine, but she made us promise not to tell anyone of her new location." Tears filled Blaine's eyes and he shook his head furiously, willing himself not to cry in front of them._

"_We're so sorry Blaine," Hiram said quietly, "If it's any consolation to you, Rachel was very fond of you, and we were so grateful to you for being such a good friend to her, we know it meant a lot to her." Blaine nodded emotionlessly, before saying goodbye to them both and walking back to his car in a complete daze. _

_He sat motionless in his car for a few minutes, as he allowed the news to fully register in his mind. He slammed his fists onto the steering wheel angrily, Rachel had really gone, why hadn't she told him that she was leaving. He picked up his phone again and dialled Rachel's number one more time._

"_Hello, you've reached Rachel Berry, I'm sorry I can't come to the phone right now, but if you leave you name and number I'll get back to you soon,"_

"_Rachel it's me, please just call me when you get this message. I've just seen your dad's, they told me you've left Lima for good, you can't leave Rachel, you just can't." he gulped again, "Please just call me," he ended the call and threw his phone onto the passenger seat with a frustrated sigh. He placed his head on the headrest and let out a quiet sigh, he needed to calm down, he knew that Kurt would be waiting for him, but he couldn't go back and face everyone, not yet. Instead he thought back to the previous day when Rachel had hugged him and told him that she'd been lucky to have a friend like him, that was her goodbye to him, he should've known that something wasn't right with her, she wasn't her usually chatty self, but he just thought that she was overcome with the emotions of graduation. He shook his head frustrated with the tears that were now spilling from his eyes. He's best friend had gone and he hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye._

"Blaine, are you okay?" Molly asked, walking back into the now quiet classroom, whilst the kids were out for recess, Blaine blinked before realising that yes, she was talking to him. He nodded and smiled at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a lot on my mind I guess," he shrugged, leaning against his desk as Molly peered out of the window, waving as the children continued to run by.

"You've been pretty quiet all morning," Molly continued, turning away from the window now and back around to face him.

"Honestly, I'm fine." He laughed, "Besides, it makes a change for somebody to be quiet in this classroom," Molly laughed in agreement as she sat down on one of the tables, staring back at Blaine who still seemed to be pretty deep in thought.

"So, Amy seems to be settling in okay, don't you think?" she said happily, tactfully trying to change the subject, Blaine rubbed his forehead and smiled.

"Yeah, she seems to be doing okay, better than most do on their first day anyway." He commented, as the bell rang loudly ending the conversation between the two of them. Blaine smiled at Molly as the two of them walked into the playground where his class were anxiously waiting for them both.

"Are we ready to inside?" he grinned as they lined up in front of him.

"Yes Mr Anderson!" the children shouted, Blaine grinned back at them and took the hand of the child at the front of the line and led the class back to the classroom. He stood in the doorway as he waited for the children to hang up their coats before lining up again outside the room, he grinned as one by one they joined the queue with Molly, he paused when he noticed Amy hopping up and down in front of her coat hook. He signalled to Molly to take over the line whilst he walked over and crouched down in front of Amy.

"I'm too little," she grumbled, Blaine chuckled lightly, remembering the many times that Rachel and Blaine had discussed their height at great length throughout their senior year, especially when they exchanged stories about their boyfriends at the time, both of whom were taller than them.

"Being little isn't a bad thing you know," he smiled, "It's what inside that counts,"

"That's what my mummy says," Amy giggled.

"Well your mummy is a very smart lady," he grinned, taking the coat of Amy's hand and hanging it on her hook, "Come on, let's go and join the back of the line." Amy grinned and took Blaine's hand as he led her to the back of the line of children, each desperate to get back into the classroom.

As the afternoon continued Blaine wondered through the classroom watching as the children played together, he looked up and spotted Amy playing alone in the music corner. Of course any daughter of Rachel's would be in the music section, he smiled fondly and walked over to her, pulling a chair out and sitting down next to her.

"What are you doing over here all by yourself?" he asked softly.

"The other children didn't want to sing with me," Amy shrugged as she continued to hit the xylophone into some sort of rhythm; Blaine nodded and smiled at her.

"Do you like singing Amy?" he asked and Amy grinned and nodded.

"My mummy sings to all the time!" she grinned, "She likes to sing, my grandma says that she used to perform on the stage with everyone clapping for her, she doesn't do that anymore though." Blaine smiled softly at the little girl in front of him, it was clear that she adored Rachel more than anything else in the world.

"So what do you and mummy sing then?" Blaine continued, Amy giggled as she started to sing the chorus from _'Don't Stop Believing'_ Blaine's breath caught in his throat as he remembered taking National's Senior year with this song, he had finally beat Finn in one of New Directions classic Diva-offs and had been allowed to sing lead with Rachel that year. "Do you like that song?" Amy asked when she had finished, "My mummy sings it all the time, it's a really old song, and my grandpa says he can remember buying that on a tape, so it must be really, really old, because mummy says you can't buy tapes anymore." Blaine laughed loudly and nodded.

"That's right, but sometimes, the old songs are the best ones."

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><p><em>Rachel sobbed quietly into her pillow, it didn't smell like the one she had back in Lima. She'd arrived late night and was yet to leave the confines of her room. She already missed her dad's, although they'd promised that they'd be out to see her soon and that they were always at the end of the phone whenever she needed to talk, but she knew it wasn't the same. She'd barely spoken to Shelby since she had collected her at the airport, but she was somewhat grateful that Shelby didn't force into conversation, she knew that she would be there when she was ready to talk and that was good enough for Rachel right now. She rolled over and glanced at the clock next to her bed, she new that New Directions would be at Noah's party now, a party that she was expected to attend. She knew that Blaine and Kurt would be concerned about her, she had never let them down before, but she knew that all of that had changed now. Everything changed for her the night of her Senior Prom. She shook her head, willing herself not to think about that now, she had left Lima to forget. <em>

_She glanced at her phone that she'd placed on her bedside table and wondered whether Kurt and Blaine had tried calling her, she was pretty sure that they would have, she had never failed to call them before. As she stared at her phone she could feel it mocking her, mocking her for being a coward and choosing to run away instead of staying and facing what had happened, but she couldn't do it. She had always put a strong front, but she knew now that she was just as weak as the rest of them, maybe even weaker because she knew she couldn't do anything about it. Running was her only option; it had always been her only option. She strained her ears as she could hear Shelby talking; she sat up and continued to listen to one-sided conversation._

"_She hasn't left her room since last night," she sighed, "I don't know if she rushed into this too quickly." Rachel rolled her eyes at that one, Shelby was making it seem like she had a choice in all of this, Rachel had never had a choice, she would never have chosen for any of this to happen._

"_Blaine?" Rachel sat up straight at the sound of her best friends name, "How long ago? How did he take it? Oh the poor boy, Rachel hasn't turned her phone on since she arrived last night….Okay I'll tell her, bye."_

_Rachel sighed as she stared at her phone again and slowly turned it one, before it beeped loudly informing her of her new messages. She quickly flicked through them, each member of New Directions had tried calling her numerous times, she sighed as she deleted the messages one by one, only pausing when she noticed at the most recent message from Blaine. Slowly she hit the play button and held the phone to her ear._

"_Rachel it's me, please just call me when you get this message. I've just seen your dad's, they told me you've left Lima for good, you can't leave Rachel, you just can't. Please just call me." Rachel gulped as new wave of tears spilled from her eyes, she began crying loudly and Shelby came running into her room pulling her into a tight hug._

"_Rachel, honey, what's wrong?" she asked quietly, Rachel sobbed and held out her phone._

"_Please just take it away, I can't do this!" she sobbed, Shelby nodded and took the phone out Rachel's hand, glancing briefly at the screen long enough to spot Blaine's name on the screen. She sighed and turned the phone off before comforting Rachel once more._

Rachel stood at the school gates watching as one by one the children from Amy's Kindergarten class left with their parents, a few minutes passed and no one else seemed to emerge from the building, Rachel nodded firmly and willed her feet to move as she walked towards the classroom, she tapped on the door gently, and took a deep breath as the door opened wide.

"I'm sorry I'm late," she whispered, Blaine nodded, noticing Rachel's expression and stepped aside allowed Amy to run into her mother's arms.

"Molly, could you leave us alone for a few minutes please?" Blaine asked quietly, Molly glanced at a tear stricken Rachel and nodded before quickly leaving the classroom.

"Come on, Rachel." Blaine said softly, closing the classroom door and leading her towards his desk, Amy holding her mother's hand tightly.

* * *

><p><strong>Next up, Blaine and Rachel finally talk :)<strong>


	3. Patience

**Thank for all for reading this, I mean this from the bottom of my heart. I really appreciate it. I'm glad you're enjoying this so far. I now present you chapter 3, and we even get to see another former member of New Directions in this chapter :)**

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><p>Rachel sat down in front of Blaine's desk and smiled as Amy forced a piece of paper into her hands.<p>

"I made this for you mummy," she grinned as Rachel stared at the star covered page.

"It's lovely, thank you," Rachel smiled kissing her forehead, "We'll put it on the refrigerator when we get home." Amy beamed and nodded proudly as Blaine leant against his desk, watching as mother and daughter interacted.

"Hey Amy, why don't you go and play with some of the toys, I want to speak to your mummy for a little while," Amy nodded and skipped to the other side of the room leaving Blaine and Rachel alone again. Rachel didn't say anything first, she sat quietly watching as her daughter continued to play without a care in the world, she glanced down at the piece of paper in her hands and smiled softly.

"How has she been?" Rachel asked quietly, finally turning to face Blaine, "She was so nervous this morning?" Blaine chuckled lightly and shook his head,

"She's been absolutely fine Rachel, she's a wonderful little girl, you should be very proud of her." He told her and Rachel nodded, a happy smile on her face.

"I am," Blaine smiled and watched his old friend for a few seconds, she certainly wasn't the same person that she was all those years ago, but then again, who was. He knew that everyone from McKinley had changed in one-way of another; it's called growing up. But Rachel seemed to be particularly different.

"Can we talk?" Blaine asked, causing Rachel to look at him again, "I don't just mean parent to teacher, we used to be best friends Rachel." Rachel closed her eyes and nodded. She could do this, Blaine was always so good to her, she could do what Shelby had told her and only tell him what she felt comfortable with.

"So what are you doing with yourself these days, I always expected to see you pop up on Broadway somewhere," he smiled and Rachel shook her head sadly.

"We both know that it was never going to happen, it was just a childish dream" she sighed, "But I'm doing okay, well as good as could be expected for a single mother living in the city." Blaine watched as she continued to talk, the Rachel Berry that he knew would never have dismissed her Broadway dreams as childish, "I'm a waitress now, I work for a lovely family, they've been pretty good to me over the years. They even let me sing sometimes, the money isn't brilliant, but they are great if I ever need time off because of Amy, you know how it is?" Blaine nodded, although he had no idea what it was really like, he'd never really had to deal with this side of life before, his family had supported him whilst he was at college, then when he'd left college he'd walked straight into this job, he'd never really had to struggle for anything before. Now looking at Rachel, his eyes had been well and truly opened.

"What about you, I never ever expected you to be teaching, I always thought you'd be taking over the charts." Blaine just shrugged and smiled.

"Things changed when I was at college," he told her, "Kurt and I were working so hard trying to balance our relationship, classes, show choir, and any other extra curricular activities that would give us a competitive edge when we graduated. But I got tired really quick, then one of my professors offered me a chance to assist his music class, I thought I'd give it a go, I don't know what I was expecting really, but let's just say I've never looked back. Teaching was my calling." The pair returned to silence for a few minutes, neither of them daring to address the elephant in the room, so they both took to watching Amy as she scurried across the room picking out the best toys, before she ran over and happily shown them to an amused Rachel.

"I should really be going." Rachel said quietly as she glanced at her watch,

"I tried calling you, you know. The day you left Lima." Blaine stated quietly

"I know you did." Rachel whispered, feeling her throat tighten

"Why did you leave Rachel?" Rachel started trembling slightly and glanced over to Amy, she didn't like Amy to see her crying so she willed herself to hold it together.

"Was she the only reason?" Blaine asked, walking over to her. Rachel closed her eyes and shook her head.

"I had to get out of there, Blaine, Lima was suffocating me." Blaine placed his hand on her shoulder and she flinched slightly at his touch and backed away.

"You could have spoken to me first, do you have any idea how much it hurt when your dad's told me that you'd gone and were never coming back?" Rachel flinched and nodded.

"I had my reasons Blaine, reasons that I'm not comfortable discussing right now." she trembled slightly, "I know you don't understand it, but please just respect it." Blaine nodded and sighed quietly, before reaching across his desk and picking up a pen and piece of paper. Rachel watched him as he jotted a number down and handed it over to her.

"That's my number," he smiled, "I'd really like us to catch up properly some time, that's if you want to."

"I'd like that," Rachel smiled, glancing at the page before putting it into her purse, "Thank you Blaine." He grinned as Amy skipped back over to join her mother.

"Mummy, I'm hungry," she whined, Rachel smiled and stood up and clasped her daughter's hand, before leading her towards the door, with Blaine following them. Rachel paused momentarily and turned back to face him.

"It was good to see you again Blaine," she smiled; Blaine lowered his head and gave her a crooked smile.

"You to, Rachel." He watched as Rachel and Amy walked out of the school grounds, thinking that maybe, just maybe he might just get his best friend back.

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><p>When Rachel turned up at Shelby's again that night, Shelby noticed that her daughter seemed considerably happier. Beth instantly pulled Amy into her bedroom to play leaving Rachel alone to talk to Shelby as she cooked dinner.<p>

"So, I'm guessing you talked to him then?" Shelby asked, Rachel nodded as she continued to drum her fingers on the counter, "How was it?"

"It was okay, it was still incredibly awkward. He asked me what the real reason was for leaving like that, he seemed to know that it wasn't just the pregnancy." Rachel sighed.

"I always said that he was a smart boy," Shelby commented, as she placed the vegetables into saucepan and left them to cook before opening a bottle of wine and pouring Rachel a glass. Rachel took it gratefully as Shelby took the seat next to her. "So what did you tell him?" Rachel sipped at her wine before placing the glass onto the counter.

"I told him I had my reasons, I didn't tell him what though, I wanted to, there was a part of me that just wanted to get it out there, and deal with his reaction. But I couldn't do it, does make me a coward?"

"Of course it doesn't!" Shelby said loudly, placing her own glass onto the counter and squeezing Rachel's hand, "I think you're an extremely strong woman Rachel, and you shouldn't let yourself think like that."

"I know." Rachel sighed, picking up her glass again and taking a long sip.

"So, are you going to see him again?" Shelby asked, Rachel shrugged and smiled at her.

"I think there's a good chance of that," he laughed, "I can hardly avoid him, he is Amy's teacher, and she seems pretty taken by him. She barely stopped talking to him on the way over here." Shelby and Rachel laughed loudly, Rachel wasn't entirely sure why, but it had been such a stressful day that she was just grateful that she still had the ability to laugh.

"Grandma, is dinner ready yet, I'm _still_ really hungry," Amy moaned as she and Beth walked back into the kitchen.

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><p>"Rachel Berry, are you sure?" Blaine laughed loudly as he rolled his eyes, Kurt had called him for their weekly catch up, having busy careers they didn't get many chances to see each other that often, this was their way of keeping their friendship alive.<p>

"Kurt, of course I'm sure." Blaine laughed as he sat down on his sofa, patting his dog, Ella, gently, "Her daughter is adorable,"

"I just can't believe it, why would she have a child and keep it from us, it doesn't seem like her at all," Kurt commented, Blaine just nodded, he'd been thinking the same thing all day. Rachel's reluctance to tell him everything only added to his suspicions that there was more to her disappearance than she would have him think. "Oh my god, do you think she's Finn's?" Kurt shrieked causing Blaine to pull the phone away from his ear.

"What? I don't know, why would you even think that?" Blaine asked cautiously putting the phone back to his ear.

"Oh come on Blaine, we all know that their relationship was on again off again throughout senior year. Oh my god, I could be an uncle!" Blaine rolled his eyes and shook his head; he could hear Kurt pacing around his apartment excitedly.

"Kurt, we don't know anything yet, so please don't tell anyone. She seemed freaked out by just seeing me, imagine what she'd be like if Finn turned up demanding to see a child that may not even be his?" The line fell silent as Kurt considered Blaine's words, Blaine almost felt guilty for telling Kurt that he'd run into Rachel again, but he was the only person that he kept in touch with regularly, the rest of New Directions only exchanged the occasional email every couple of months, just keeping everyone up to date on things.

"Well we'll have to all meet up when I come to visit next, I can't believe she's been living in New York all this time."

"Kurt, I'm not sure about that," Blaine started, "She seems different, she's not the same person we went to school with,"

"Don't be ridiculous Blaine," Kurt scolded, "She's still Rachel Berry isn't she?"

"You didn't see her Kurt, it was like she was scared or something, she wouldn't tell me the exact reason why she left. But I don't think that is was just because of Amy." Ella got up from where Blaine was sitting and walked into the kitchen where she started crying loudly. Blaine rolled his eyes, and got up from his seat.

"Fine, but you better keep me informed. I've missed the little diva."

"I know, we both have," Blaine said quietly, as he crouched down to pick up Ella's bowl, "Listen, I've got to go. I'll call you soon."

"You better," Kurt laughed, "Oh and tell Rachel I said hello, and I want to see pictures of Amy."

"Okay Kurt, bye." Blaine laughed as he ended the call, he placed Ella's bowl on the floor before walking back into his lounge and flicking the television on. He wasn't really paying much attention to what was on the screen, he was preoccupied thinking about Rachel and little Amy. Would Rachel really have kept a child a secret from the biological father for almost 6 years? Blaine didn't want to think that she was capable of such a thing, but Rachel's jumpy attitude told him otherwise.

_When Blaine finally returned to Puck's house, Kurt was the first person to realise that there was something wrong with his boyfriend's behaviour._

"_Hey, are you okay?" Kurt asked quietly, "Where's Rachel?" Blaine glanced at his boyfriend and shook his head slowly, before walking to the bottom of the garden and sinking into one of the chairs. _

"_Hey Anderson, what's up with you?" Puck laughed, noticing Blaine for the first time all evening, Blaine didn't respond, he just continued to stare at the screen of his phone, silently willing it to ring._

"_Blaine, what's going on?" Blaine turned around again and noticed that Kurt and the rest of New Directions were standing behind him._

"_Rachel's gone." Blaine said in almost a whisper._

"_What do you mean gone?" Kurt asked, glancing between his boyfriend and stepbrother._

"_She's left Lima, and she's never coming back." Even saying the words out loud was painful for Blaine. New Directions fell silent, each of them exchanging concerned glances. Granted, Rachel wasn't always their favourite person, but she did mean something to them, the thought that she had left without telling any of them was too much for them to consider._

"_Did you know about this?" Kurt snapped, turning to face Finn who was now walking away from the group. He rolled his eyes and pulled out his own phone, and dialled Rachel's number himself. He wouldn't believe that she had actually gone until he had heard it from Rachel herself. When he ended the call, he noticed that the rest of New Directions were doing the same thing._

_Finn felt like his world was falling apart, he knew that things had been rocky between them since Prom, but he had no idea that she was planning on leaving without saying a word to anyone. He thought he, at least deserved an explanation. Their relationship had never been plain sailing, but he thought they could at least try and get past this over the summer and at least be friends. His mind flicked back to the night of Prom, the night that had changed everything between them. Sure he had been angry at the time, but he thought things were getting back on track between the two of them. They'd pulled through as Glee Club captains and led their club to victory. They had been so happy when they'd returned home victorious from New York, he thought then that maybe she'd want to give their relationship another chance, but she had pushed him away. Finn had always felt something for Rachel; he wasn't sure whether it was love, because really, who knew what that felt like? But right now, he didn't know whether to be upset or angry with Rachel's sudden departure._

"_Hey, you okay dude?" Finn turned around to see Puck stood behind him._

"_What do you think?" Finn snapped, "She just left without telling any of us, after everything we've been through, you'd think she would have told me!"_

"_Hey, Rachel meant a lot to me to dude." Puck sighed placing his hand on Finn's shoulder as a form of comfort, "Maybe she had her reasons, you know what Rachel's like, she doesn't do anything without over planning it first."_

"_I just can't believe she would leave without saying goodbye." Finn mumbled quietly._

"_I know dude. I'm going to miss her to." Puck said quietly. _

_Blaine sat quietly watching as New Directions comforted each other, everyone seemed to be preoccupied with consoling Finn and Kurt than to actually sit back and wonder why she had seemed to vanish into thin air. Blaine was pretty sure that he knew Rachel well; their friendship had blossomed into something fantastic over the year, they shared everything. He couldn't stop thinking that there was something more to Rachel leaving, he glared at Finn as Puck and Quinn continued to comfort him. Finn had hurt Rachel so many times; maybe Rachel couldn't take the stress of it anymore. So before he knew what he was doing he was walking directly over to Finn, ignoring Kurt's pleas for him to stop._

"_What did you do you to her!" Blaine shouted, angrily shoving Finn._

"_Dude, what the hell?" Finn shouted, towering over Blaine as he pushed him back._

"_All she ever did was love you!" Blaine shouted, clearly not intimidated by Finn, as he continued to shove him, "If you've hurt her I swear I'll…"_

"_You'll what, huh?" Finn snapped, "You don't think I loved her to?" Blaine glared at Finn, ignoring Kurt as he begged him to calm down._

"_I'm fine!" Blaine said through gritted teeth as Kurt placed his hand on his arm, Blaine sighed as he turned to walk away, Kurt and Mercedes stood at either side of him._

"_You always have to be the hero, don't you?" Finn shouted. Something snapped inside of Blaine as he shrugged off Kurt's hand and spun around with his fist in the air before connecting it with Finn's face. Finn hit back immediately and the two boys were caught up as they continued to hit each other, both of them hoping that the pain from the beatings would help numb the pain of loss that they were both feeling in their hearts. The fight didn't last that long, although it did take Sam, Mike and Puck to fully separate them._

"_I think we should all just calm down." Sam said as he stood in between Finn and Blaine._

"_Yeah, Rachel wouldn't want us to be fighting." Puck continued, Finn shrugged out Puck's grasp and rolled his eyes._

"_Like any of us really knew what was going on inside of her head." He spat before walking away from the group. Needless to say, no one felt like celebrating after that._

Blaine was pulled from his thoughts when his phone buzzed loudly at his side. He reached over and frowned at a number that he didn't recognize. He opened the message and smiled.

'_Hi it's Rachel. How does dinner on Friday suit you?'_

Blaine grinned as he typed in his response.

'_Friday suits me fine x'_

Ella walked back into the lounge and jumped up to sit with Blaine on the sofa. Blaine patted her side gently and smiled as she nuzzled into his side.

"Well, Ella. It looks like I've got a date on Friday night," he smirked as the dog licked his hand affectionately.

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><p><strong>Next up: Blaine and Rachel have dinner and try to rebuild their friendship.<strong>


	4. Same Old Brand New You

Blaine found himself waiting outside of the busy restaurant waiting for Rachel to arrive, they had been talking throughout the week and Rachel had gradually become more comfortable in his company. Blaine hadn't spoken to Kurt since Monday, he knew that he would be pestering him about Rachel and wanting answers about Amy's parentage, he knew he couldn't do that to Rachel, not yet. He wanted tonight to be perfect for them, he was fairly certain that Rachel still had her own issues to work through, but if their friendship could be salvaged after all this time, then he was sure that they could work through anything. When he finally saw her approaching he smiled and relaxed his shoulders, hoping to appear calmer than he actually was.

"Hey," Rachel smiled; Blaine smiled and pecked her cheek gently.

"Hey, you look great," Rachel blushed and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"I don't really do this that often," she said quietly, Blaine smiled and held out his arm to her.

"Shall we?" Rachel nodded and took his arm as he led her inside. They were seated immediately, Blaine was grateful that he'd thought to call ahead and reserve a table.

"So, where's Amy tonight?" Blaine asked after he had ordered a bottle of wine for the two of them to share. Rachel gave him a look over her menu and Blaine laughed lightly, "Hey, I'm asking as a friend, not as a member of faculty."

"She's staying at Shelby's tonight," Rachel shrugged,

"She's a credit to you Rachel, she really is." Blaine nodded; Rachel blushed and smiled into her menu.

"As much as I love my daughter, I doubt that you wanted to spend the entire night discussing her," she smirked, Blaine laughed as their waiter returned with their wine. He poured them both a glass and Blaine dismissed him again for the time being, before focusing on Rachel again.

"Okay, what is it?" she asked, placing her menu back onto the table, and staring across at Blaine.

"Nothing," he laughed as he shook his head, "It's just you seem so different."

Rachel sighed and placed her hands onto the table, looking at him properly for the first time.

"It's been six years Blaine," she said softly, "I've been through a lot."

"Like?" Blaine pressed but Rachel shook her head firmly.

"It's not something I'm comfortable in discussing yet Blaine, maybe one day, but not yet." Blaine nodded, noticing Rachel tense up for the first time all evening, he decided to change the subject quickly, not wanting to ruin the evening before it had really had chance to begin.

"Okay, let's order. This is hardly good dinner conversation." He grinned calling their waiter over again.

They spent the rest of the evening trying to keep their conversation relatively light, exchanging various "remember when" stories from their time together at school, and Rachel found herself laughing properly for the first time in years, realising how much she had missed Blaine's friendship.

"Do you still keep in touch with anyone?" Rachel asked, Blaine nodded as he chewed his steak.

"I still speak to them all occasionally." He explained.

"So what is everyone up to these days, my dad's told me that Finn is preparing to take over Mr Hummel's garage, but that's the extent of what I know." Rachel asked, curiosity getting the better of her. She often wondered, on nights where her nightmares got the better of her, what her old friends were doing with their lives.

"Yeah, he's been there a few years now, he actually got married last year," Blaine started, he paused, waiting for a response from Rachel, she simply nodded and smiled, "He and Quinn are expecting their first child in a couple of months."

"They were always pretty well matched," Rachel smiled, "I'm pleased for them." Blaine stared at Rachel, trying to figure out whether she was being sincere or not. But there was no bitterness to her tone, so Blaine didn't say anything else.

"What about everyone else?" Rachel continued,

"Oh, well." Blaine cleared his throat and smiled at her, "Puck is part of the coaching staff at McKinley now. I haven't seen him since Finn's wedding though,"

"Wow, I always thought Noah would be the first one out of Lima," Rachel laughed, "He always seemed to be adamant that he couldn't wait to get out."

"He left for a while, but he lost his job and returned home. Apparently Beiste ran into him at the store and offered him a job just like that. He's never looked back, and he seems pretty happy." Rachel smiled, aside from Blaine and Kurt; Noah had always been good to her. They had a history together, but their friendship had always remained strong no matter what happened between them relationship wise.

"What about Mercedes? I know she'll be doing something amazing!" Rachel beamed,

"She's in LA at the moment, she's been out there since she finished college, she's had some interest from some small labels, but she's still waiting for her big break."

"I'm so pleased for her, if anyone deserves it then it's probably her. I know we didn't always see eye to eye, but she was incredibly talented."

"Who are you, and what have you done with Rachel Berry?" Blaine laughed, Rachel blushed and placed her knife and fork onto her plate.

"I've just grown up Blaine," she smiled, as she waited for Blaine to finish his meal.

After dinner Blaine invited Rachel back to his apartment so they could continue to catch up on old times, if he was honest he'd been enjoying her company so much that he didn't want the evening to end. Inviting her back to his place was just a way of prolonging the time they had together.

"Wow, Blaine. This place is incredible." Rachel smiled as he opened the front door and she walked inside slowly, taking in the room around her.

"Yeah, it's home." He smirked, closing the door behind him and walking into the kitchen, Rachel slowly followed behind him.

"You do realise that I could probably fit my entire apartment inside here and still have space?" Rachel laughed, Blaine shrugged and placed two wine glasses onto the counter and opened a bottle of wine, as Ella came running into the kitchen.

"Who's this?" Rachel grinned, as Ella jumped up, craving attention.

"That's just Ella, she's friendly enough. She just doesn't always take the hint, the craves attention." Blaine laughed, handing Rachel her glass of wine as she gently patted Ella. Blaine sipped at his wine and smiled at Rachel, who was talking quietly to Ella. He still hadn't gotten the answers that Kurt was desperate for, but Rachel seemed to have eased up incredibly and that was certainly enough for him for the time being. Rachel had a new life here anyway, she was happy with Amy, who really cared what happened in Lima?

"What?" Rachel smiled, suddenly feeling self-conscious; Blaine shrugged and smiled at her.

"I just can't believe that you're really here." He said honestly,

"Me neither," Rachel whispered, "I never thought that I'd see any of you again," The kitchen fell silent again as Ella nudged Rachel's leg softly, she smiled and crouched down to stroke her again and Blaine smiled happily.

"So, what about everyone else?" Rachel asked, smiling as she stood up and sipped at her wine again, "You stopped at Mercedes."

"So I did," Blaine laughed, leading her towards the lounge where they could talk in comfort.

"Wow, I don't think I'll ever get up again." Rachel laughed as she dropped down onto the sofa, and slipped her shoes off.

"It's comfy isn't it?" Blaine laughed, sitting down next to her, Rachel laughed and stretched out her legs, her feet just touching Blaine's legs. "Wow, make yourself at home, Rachel." Rachel blushed and moved to sit up, but Blaine laughed and shook his head. "I was joking," he told her, before stretching his own legs out so his feet were touching the side of her legs.

"We're still a couple of hobbits," Rachel giggled, Blaine laughed loudly and nodded

"Yeah, I guess we are," Rachel hit his foot and shook her head.

"You wasn't supposed to agree with me," she retorted, before resting her head back on the back of the sofa, "So tell me about everyone else."

"Tina is training to be speech therapist." Blaine started, Rachel smiled happily and nodded along, "She said it's her way of helping children find themselves, like Mr Schue helped her with her stutter during her freshman year."

"I remember that," Rachel said thoughtfully, "I remember her telling us once how she felt that her stutter held her back, so good for her."

"Santana is doing pretty well for herself to," Blaine sighed happily, "She writes jingles for TV commercials, and she's making quite a living out of it." Rachel almost choked on her wine from laughing.

"Are you serious?" she gasped, Blaine grinned and nodded.

"Apparently, it all stems back to when New Directions were writing original songs Junior Year, something about '_Trouty Mouth?_'" Rachel laughed loudly, recalling the awkward moment when Santana had first performed that terrible song; the annoyed look on Sam's face told everyone that he had not been consulted throughout the song writing process.

"You know, if you had actually allowed her to perform her songs at Regional's, The Warblers may have had a chance that year." Blaine laughed and shook his head.

"We would have still beat you," she smirked, poking her tongue out at him.

"Now that I think about it, you guys were weird before I transferred from Dalton." Blaine commented, causing Rachel to scoff loudly.

"Please, you only added to our weirdness," she laughed,

"You want to talk about weird?" Blaine laughed, "I've got to tell you what Sam is up to these days."

"Go on," Rachel grinned in anticipation.

"Remember the Justin Bieber experience?" he asked, Rachel nodded before gasping loudly and starting to giggle.

"No way!" she shrieked, "I can't believe there are still people who would want to see that."

"Well apparently there are," he laughed, "Quite a few from what he told me the last time we spoke."

"I can't believe it, but hey, it's a job." Rachel smiled "What about Brittany, things were still really awkward between her and Santana when I left."

"Well, Brittany is still with Artie, they got engaged a couple of months ago." Blaine explained causing Rachel to grin.

"I'm so happy for them, I always thought they made a pretty good couple." Blaine nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, Artie helps her with her business, they make a pretty good team, actually." Rachel paused and stared at Blaine.

"Brittany runs her own business?" Rachel asked slowly, Blaine laughed loudly and nodded, "She and Mike opened a dance studio in Lima about two years ago," Blaine explained, "It's pretty successful, but Artie helps with all the finances and technical things like that, he's also partly responsible for Burt Hummel's business being as popular as it is today."

"How so? Mr Hummel's garage has been around for years, my dad always takes his car to him," Rachel frowned.

"Oh yeah, it's a good business. But he asked Kurt for help on advertising ideas one summer, Kurt was busy working on something else, so he gave his dad Artie's number, and you know what Artie is like when he gets a vision," Blaine shrugged, "He helped to shoot a commercial on a pretty small budget, but business has been great ever since." Rachel nodded, happy for the way that her friend's lives had panned out. She knew that they had fought on many occasions, but she had been able to see the potential in everyone of them. She paused a moment when she thought back to everyone Blaine had mentioned, he'd barely mentioned Kurt once, and when he did it was only in passing.

"What about Kurt?" she asked tactfully,

"Yeah, Kurt's doing alright," Blaine smiled,

"Did you break up?" Rachel continued, Blaine sighed and nodded, "Oh, I'm sorry Blaine."

"No, don't be." Blaine laughed, sipping at his wine again, "It was an amicable break up, and believe it or not, we're actually closer now then ever. But yeah, he's doing okay, he runs a pretty successful fashion blog, and he's designing new clothes all the time."

"I'm really pleased for him, I'm sorry that you two broke up, but still pleased for him." Rachel traced her finger lazily around the rim of her glass before lifting her eyes to meet Blaine's.

"You haven't changed you know Blaine, not really." Rachel commented lazily. "I mean, you don't use as much gel as you used to, and your style of dress has changed slightly, you're no longer sporting the geek chic look, that Kurt was always _oh so fond of,_" she said giving him a sarcastic grin, reminding him of the amount of times that Rachel and him were thrown together by Kurt when he felt that they were both in desperate need of makeover, no matter how happy they both were with their individual styles. "But deep down you're still the same warm hearted guy that you always were."

"Is that a good thing?" he grinned and Rachel laughed and nodded.

"It's an extremely good thing." She told him earnestly, "I don't know if I ever told you this Blaine, but you were my best friend."

"You were my best friend to," he sighed, "When I found out that you'd left, I didn't know what to do with myself, I felt like you'd taken part of me with you." The both sighed sadly and Blaine reached out and squeezed Rachel's hand gently.

"You know, I always thought that you and Kurt would be together forever," Rachel commented.

"Things don't always turn out the way you plan, Rachel" Blaine shrugged.

"Don't I know it," Rachel mumbled, Blaine frowned and stared at her.

"What about you, is there a certain man in your life?" he enquired; he felt Rachel's body tense next to his as she shook her head.

"No," she said firmly, "It's just Amy and I, the way it's always been."

"What always?" Blaine asked, Rachel nodded and quickly finished her drink.

"Are you telling me that you've not had a relationship since Amy was born?" Rachel fell silent and Blaine realised then that he had said the wrong thing, he placed his hand gently on Rachel's leg but she pulled it away quickly.

"I think I should go," Rachel mumbled, sitting up and slipping her feet back into her shoes, "Thank you for a lovely evening Blaine," she smiled.

"Rachel, what are you doing?" Blaine sighed, standing up and following her.

"I really don't want to talk about this, Blaine." She muttered quietly.

"I'm sorry," Blaine sighed, tentatively placing his hand on Rachel's shoulders. Her shoulders relaxed and she inhaled deeply.

"I'm the one who should be sorry Blaine," she said, slowly turning around to face him, "I'm just…It's so hard Blaine."

"What is?" he asked quietly, Rachel shook her head and raised her hand to wipe a few stray tears from her eyes.

"I want to tell you, I really do. But I can't, not right now." she whispered, Blaine nodded and carefully pulled her into a hug.

"It's okay Rachel," he said quietly, patting her back, "You can talk to me when you're ready."

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><p><strong>Next up: More BlaineRachel friendship, and some secrets are revealed.  
><strong>


	5. Issues

**Sorry for the delay with the next chapter, I've been pretty busy with things at home. Believe it or not I've actually had this chapter written for about a week, but I've been editing it for the last few days between work, making sure it was ready for me to post, and I know that some of you are getting frustrated, wanting to know who Amy's dad is, so I'm sorry for keeping you guessing. **

**I hope you enjoy this chapter, and sorry in advance for ending it where I do.**

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><p>Months had passed now, and Rachel and Blaine's friendship had gone from strength to strength and Rachel was beginning to wonder how she'd ever managed to let go of Blaine's friendship in the first place. Their weekly coffee dates turned into weekly movie nights at each other's apartment's, they went out to dinner on a regular basis, and Rachel found that her weekends were also being occupied by Blaine as he often made plans for both Rachel and Amy, and Rachel couldn't remember ever being happier. Shelby had noticed a change in Rachel's behaviour as well, she was no longer just getting through the day, she was actually living and enjoying herself, despite everything that had happened to her. She had met Blaine again a few times as she collected Amy for the evening, and she had to admit that he was still as charming as ever, and Shelby was pleased that Rachel had reconnected with Blaine instead of some of the other people that Rachel had been friends with in High School, Blaine was probably one of the only people from Rachel's past that hadn't hurt her in one way or another. Amy had really taken to Blaine as well, something that had come to a huge relief to Rachel as they were seeing each other on a more regular basis. Rachel had worried that it would have been awkward seeing Blaine out of the school environment, but Blaine was so good with her that Amy actually looked forward to seeing him, be it at school or on one of their many days out.<p>

"Mummy, is Mr Blaine your boyfriend?" Amy had asked one evening whilst they were eating dinner, Rachel almost choked on her food, before shaking her head and smiling at her daughter.

"No, of course not," Rachel smiled, "Who told you that?"

"Beth told me," Amy grinned, "She said that because you go out with him, a lot, then that means he's your boyfriend."

"No, he's not my boyfriend sweetheart," Rachel smiled softly, noticing her daughter frown, "Is that okay?"

"I really like Mr Blaine," Amy sighed,

"I like him to," Rachel smiled; Amy lifted her head and grinned.

"Are you sure he's not your boyfriend." Rachel chuckled quietly and nodded.

"Yes, I'm sure," she smiled.

Blaine was considerably happier as well; Rachel wasn't his only friend in the city that would be stupid. But she was the only person that he felt relatively close to; he'd always felt close to Rachel, some might say that he'd always had a soft spot for her. But Rachel was special, and he simply loved seeing that she was getting her old sparkle back. Every time they met up together, she was able to relax a little more, Blaine was learning quickly what subjects they could talk about, and what should be avoided at all costs, and luckily for him, Rachel hadn't had any more mini breakdowns, because seriously seeing her like that, it broke Blaine's heart a little.

It was a Saturday morning, and Blaine was sat alone in his apartment enjoying a quiet breakfast. The radio was playing quietly in the background whilst Blaine flicked through the morning paper and briefly glancing at his mail, only pausing when he noticed the Lima postal mark. He frowned curiously, but before he had a chance to open the mysterious envelope, his phone started ringing loudly.

"Hello?" he said.

"Have you opened your mail yet?" Kurt shrieked, Blaine pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head, although he knew that Kurt couldn't see him.

"Not yet, why?" he asked, taking the phone back into the kitchen.

"You need to open it now, I've had something from Lima and I'm sure you have to!" Blaine sighed and quickly tore open the envelope, and started reading the contents aloud

"Dear Mr Anderson,

As a former student of William Schuester, you are cordially invited to attend a celebration in his honor for receiving the Ohio Teacher of the Year award 2018. Please join us for a reception in the gym on Saturday, December 7th, at 7:30pm."

"So, are you going?" Kurt shrieked loudly, Blaine rolled his eyes and placed the letter back onto the table.

"I don't know, maybe. Are you?" Blaine asked, sitting back down at the kitchen table and sipping at his morning coffee.

"Of course I'm going!" Kurt exclaimed into the phone, "I haven't seen everyone since Finn and Quinn's wedding, oh please say you'll go."

"It would be nice to catch up with everyone again," Blaine mused, ever since he and Rachel had first discussed New Directions at length a few months ago, he couldn't help thinking how nice it would be for everyone to meet up again, including Rachel this time, just like old times.

"Oh my god!" Kurt shrieked loudly, causing Blaine to almost spill his coffee, "You should invite Rachel! She probably hasn't received an invite because she's been MIA for the last six years, but it would be amazing to have the original New Directions together again!"

"Kurt, you really need to stop shrieking like that," Blaine groaned, "You're going to deafen me one of these days," he paused as he heard Kurt scoff loudly, "Besides, I wasn't even at McKinley that long, so I could hardly be counted as an original member of New Directions."

"Don't be stupid!" Kurt scolded, "You were there for the first and only time that New Directions took Nationals, I think that qualifies you as an original member. Oh please say you'll ask her, then maybe I can _finally_ meet Amy, since you keep telling me how _adorable_ she is."

"Hey, it's not my fault you keep asking about her," Blaine laughed.

"Well yes, but excuse me for being curious about a child that may be my niece. I keep meaning to ask you about that by the way, has she said anything about who Amy's dad is, I mean I'm pretty sure it's Finn, but you never really know, do you?" Blaine could just picture the expression on Kurt's face and smirked as he shook his head.

"Funnily enough Kurt, it's not something you can easily bring up in conversation." Blaine laughed,

"We really need to find out, because if she is Finn's then he does have the right to know," Kurt continued, Blaine sighed and sipped at his coffee.

"If I say that I'll invite her, will you stop bugging me?" The line fell silent for a minute as Kurt considered Blaine's compromise.

"I can't promise anything, but I'll at least try," Kurt stated

"Fine, I'll ask her." Blaine laughed, "But I'm making no promises."

"See, I knew you couldn't say no to me," Kurt laughed loudly, "Anyway, let me know what she says and we can probably fly out to Lima together, what do you think?"

"Just let me talk to her, before you start booking plane tickets." Blaine smiled, as he could hear Kurt typing in the background.

Blaine and Rachel returned to Rachel's apartment that evening after enjoying a wonderful meal together. Rachel placed her keys onto the sideboard and Blaine followed her into the lounge. Rachel kicked off her shoes as Blaine removed his jacket and the pair collapsed onto the sofa, Rachel placing her feet on top of Blaine.

"My feet are killing me," she groaned.

"You shouldn't have worn heels then should you," Blaine smirked; Rachel rolled her eyes at him and threw one of her cushions at him,

"Well excuse me for wanting to be a little taller sometimes," she grinned.

"Yeah, but when you wear your heels, it only makes me look smaller by comparison," Blaine pouted, "It's not good for my image,"

"Your image huh?" Rachel giggled, Blaine shrugged and picked up the cushion that Rachel had just thrown at him and threw it back at her. Rachel laughed and placed the cushion under her head and wriggled her toes slightly, Blaine laughed and began rubbing them gently for her, she smiled gratefully and let out a quiet groan, Blaine blinked and raised an eyebrow and watched her, glancing at her feet then back to her face.

"You know, sometimes I wonder whether we're too close," Blaine smirked, pinching one of Rachel's toes; she giggled and wriggled her feet away from him.

"Leave my toes alone," she giggled, "Besides, you're much comfier than my sofa,"

"That is very true," Blaine agreed, "In fact, I'm pretty sure Ella's bed is comfier than this, you never know, she might be willing to trade with you." He laughed loudly and glanced at Rachel who was trying her hardest not to laugh along with him.

"Remind me again, why are we friends?" Rachel asked,

"Because you can't resist my dapper charm and personality?" Blaine suggested, Rachel shook her head and grinned.

"No, that's not it." She giggled; she paused for a second and shook her head again, "Nope, it's gone." Blaine laughed and pinched her toes again causing her to shriek loudly.

"Wow, I forgot how alike you and Kurt actually are," Blaine groaned, rubbing his ears for emphasis, "You shriek almost as much as he does."

"Do I really want to know?" Rachel asked seriously, trying to hide the smile that was creeping back onto her face.

"Hey, it's nothing like that," Blaine laughed, as he fumbled in his pocket for the letter he had received that morning, "He called me this morning about this," he passed the folded letter over to Rachel and she read through it quickly, before shrugging and handing it back to Blaine.

"Kurt and I were thinking of going," Blaine explained, "And I thought, well," he paused and glanced at Rachel who was staring at him intently, "I thought that maybe you'd like to come with us?" The smile on Rachel's face disappeared and she shook her head.

"I don't think so Blaine," she mumbled,

"But wouldn't it be nice to see Kurt again, I know you've missed him," Blaine continued, Rachel bit her lip and sighed, "And I'm pretty sure he'd love to see you to."

"It would be nice to see him again," she sighed and Blaine smiled, "But I can't go back to Lima Blaine, I just can't."

"Come on, you could see your dad's while we're there and Amy can see where you grew up, we wouldn't be there too long, a couple of days, that's all," Blaine sighed, trying his hardest to convince her.

"I can't do it Blaine," she sighed, lifting her legs from Blaine's lap, "I'm going to make some coffee, do you want some?" She didn't give gripped the counter trying to hold herself together.

"Is this because of Finn?" Blaine asked, Rachel jumped and turned to face him, Blaine gulped, realizing that maybe that wasn't the best thing to say right now.

"Of course it isn't!" she hissed, "Why would you even ask that?" Blaine shrugged and shoved his hands into his trouser pockets.

"Well?" Rachel asked, glaring at him, Blaine sighed and opened his mouth, hating the expression on Rachel's face, "Blaine?"

"I didn't want to ask you this Rachel, it not really any of my business." Blaine sighed, "But is Finn Amy's father?"

"You're right, it's none of your business," Rachel stated, slamming two coffee mugs onto the counter in anger.

"Come on Rachel, don't be like that, you can't blame me for being curious, and if Finn is her father, then doesn't he have a right to know about her?" Blaine reasoned calmly, Rachel's eyes widened and she walked through her kitchen angrily, standing directly in front of Blaine

"Of course he isn't her father!" she shrieked, "Do you really think that I'd keep something as important as that away from him? You have no idea do you!"

"Then why are you so adamant about not going to Lima, we'd only be there a couple of days." Blaine sighed, watching as she continued to pace around the room, barely bringing herself to look at him,

"You know why!" Rachel shrieked hysterically, running her fingers through her hair.

"Do I?" Blaine half shouted, desperately trying to keep calm, but with Rachel freaking out in front of him, it was proving difficult, he paused and then realization hit him. "Oh god, it's not Puck is it?"

"Oh my god!" Rachel shouted, "Of course it's not Noah, despite what you think of me, I never actually slept with either of them!" she shouted in frustration. Blaine groaned loudly as he watched Rachel walk back over to the coffee-maker and slowly fill the two mugs that she'd gotten out for the two of them only seconds ago. She took a deep breath and glanced at Blaine who seemed to be doing the same thing.

"I just want you to talk to me Rachel." He sighed quietly, "You know you can tell me anything," he paused again as she lifted her eyes to meet his, "You've always been able to tell me anything."

"Can we please just change the subject? I really don't want to discuss this," Rachel sighed, passing him his coffee mug. Blaine took the mug from her and inhaled the strong coffee scent.

"We were talking fine until you freaked out about Lima, what's going on Rachel?" Blaine asked,

"Why are you pushing this?" Rachel questioned, "It was six years ago Blaine!" Blaine couldn't take anymore and he strode across the kitchen.

"Yes, but it's obviously something that's still plaguing you!" he snapped, "I know you're hiding something from me Rachel, you were always a terrible liar. Brilliant actress yes, but a terrible liar." Rachel frowned at him.

"Please, can we just drop it," her angry expression faded, and Blaine sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry Rachel, but we need to get to the bottom of this. I never know where I am with you, you're fine one minute then something is bought up in conversation and you freak out, you keep pushing me away Rachel, I think I deserve to know why!" Blaine surprised himself with his little outburst, so it didn't come as much of a surprise to see that Rachel's eyes had widened as she backed away from him and pressed herself against the kitchen counter.

"I'm so sorry Blaine," she said quietly, "But could you please leave, I can't talk to you while you're like this."

Blaine shook his head adamantly and slammed his hand onto the counter next to him in frustration, causing Rachel to jump.

"You see, this is exactly what I mean. You're still pushing me away, please just tell me what's going on with you!" Blaine demanded, Rachel's eyes began filling with tears and she sniffed quietly, shaking her head.

"I can't Blaine." She said quietly.

"You can't or won't?" Blaine demanded, "Has it ever occurred to you that I care about you? You've changed Rachel, it kills me to see you like this, and you won't even let me help you!"

"Please Blaine, stop it," Rachel sobbed,

"What happened to you Rachel, you've lost your drive." Blaine continued.

"Just stop please," Rachel begged.

"Then tell me what happened to you," Blaine shouted, turning away from her and throwing his arms in the air in frustration, "Why won't you go back to Lima?"

Rachel didn't answer him and Blaine just shook his head in defeat, giving Rachel a look of disappointment.

"Well since this conversation is obviously over, I'm going home. Call me when you're ready to tell me what your problem with Lima is." He said turning away from her and heading towards the kitchen door. Rachel could feel the walls tightening in around her, the sanctuary that she had spent the last six years building was crumbling and she was struggling to see the light again.

"I was raped, Blaine." she whispered, feeling sick to her stomach, she'd only said it aloud a few times and she'd barely spoken about it in years, and now it was destroying one of the only good things that she had in her life again. Blaine paused as he heard Rachel whisper something behind him, he wasn't entirely sure what she had said, but it had certainly struck a nerve with him.

"What did you say?" he asked, still unable to turn and look at her.

"I SAID I WAS RAPED!" Rachel shouted, before raising her hand to her mouth, desperately wishing that she could pull the words back out of the air where they hung, taunting her as she waited a response from Blaine. Whispering the words was something that she was able to cope with, people didn't always listen to someone when they spoke so quietly, but now she had literally shouted out the words, it made everything seem so much more real and horrifying as if she back there, on that night, reliving everything that had happened to her. When Blaine didn't respond, she starting sobbing loudly as she leant against the counter, her legs buckled beneath her and she slowly slid to the ground, pulling her knees tightly under her chin. Her body trembled as she continued to cry, as the harsh memories continued to come back and haunt her once more.

Blaine felt numb, physically numb, as soon as Rachel's words hit him, he'd frozen to the spot. He felt like someone had hit him in the stomach, the only time he had ever felt like this was when he had found out that Rachel had left without telling him. He wanted to move, he wanted to turn around and say something to Rachel, but he couldn't. He could hear her crying behind him and it broke his heart, but his words failed him and he'd never felt more of a coward in his life. He kept thinking that maybe he'd imagined hearing Rachel tell him this, but her tears only added to the confirmation.

"So you now you know," Rachel croaked in between sobs, Blaine blinked as he heard Rachel's voice again behind him, and suddenly his senses seemed to awaken again as he turned around and walked over to Rachel, dropping to the floor next to her.

"I'm so sorry Rachel," he said quietly, "I just…_shit_…I didn't know." he sighed as he struggled to find the right words. It didn't matter because Rachel didn't seem to be listening to him anyway, instead she reached out for Blaine and wrapped her arms around him tightly, clinging onto him with all the strength that she had left, as she continued to cry quietly. Blaine let out a breath that he wasn't aware that he'd been holding and placed his arms gently around her, as if he was scared to break her more than she already was, and attempted to sooth her until she was ready to talk to him again, whenever that may be.

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><p><strong>So there you go. That's Rachel's secret, and sorry if you felt that Blaine was a little OOC, but you've got to put yourself in his situation, he knows that Rachel was keeping something from him, no matter how close they were, he's still entitled to get a little frustrated when she keeps pushing him away when all he wants to do if help her. <strong>

**Next up: Rachel finally opens up to Blaine. **


	6. Chills in the Evening

**Sorry for the delay guys, this chapter has been really difficult to write for obvious reasons. Rachel finally opens up Blaine, so obviously we're going to find out more of what happened to her all those years ago, sorry if you don't like it, but you had an idea what was going to happen after the last chapter :)**

**I also want to stress that this isn't a representation over what happens if you report a rape, because of course I would always recommend that you always report it, and that it doesn't have to be the same as what happened to Rachel in this story. This is only fiction of course.**

**Hope you enjoy, please review :)**

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><p>Blaine sighed quietly as he turned of the tap and knelt down on the floor beside Rachel and handed her the glass of water.<p>

"Thank you," she croaked, before taking a sip. Blaine just nodded and stretched his legs out in front of him and rested his head on the cabinet door. He wasn't really sure how long they'd been sat like this, but he did know that Rachel had been crying for some time, and she was only just beginning to calm down. There were so many things that he wanted to ask her, but he also didn't want to hurt her at the same time. He glanced in Rachel's direction and let out a deflated sigh when he saw the redness in her eyes, she looked completely worn out. Rachel continued to sip at her water, she hadn't cried like that for some time and she'd forgotten how exhausting the whole experience was.

"I suppose you want some answers now, huh?" Rachel said quietly, Blaine lifted his head and blinked a couple of times as he focused his attention on her properly.

"You don't have to," he sighed, cautiously placing his hand on top of hers, she didn't flinch and Blaine smiled at her.

"I think I have to," she whispered, "I'm so tired of running Blaine, I thought that by leaving Lima I'd never have to think about it again, but it never leaves you." Blaine nodded, and Rachel shifted herself closer to him.

"When did….I mean…you know?" Blaine stuttered, trying to think of the right way to phrase his words.

"Senior Prom," Rachel stated, Blaine's eyes widened as he let out a loud gasp.

_Senior Prom was the social event of the year at McKinley. Although Junior Prom had been a wash out for the majority of New Directions, they were all determined that their Senior Prom was going to be a night they remembered for all of the right reasons. Rachel had spent the majority of the evening dancing with Kurt and Blaine, despite having attended with Finn. Finn had once again joined the race for Prom King and had been busy campaigning for votes for the last few weeks. Rachel knew that Quinn was almost certain to be crowned Prom Queen, but Rachel didn't mind, she trusted Finn, their relationship was much more stable than it had been a year ago._

"_Attention students, attention," the music was shut off as everyone turned to face Principal Figgins who was stood on the stage, "Will the candidates for Prom King and Queen gather on the stage, the votes are in," Rachel smiled as she noticed Finn walk onto the stage, she waved at him, but he didn't notice her as she scanned the stage._

"_You think he'll win?" Blaine whispered into her ear, Rachel shrugged._

"_Who knows, but hey at least he didn't get into a fight this year," she grinned, Blaine laughed and nodded as they both turned their attention back to the stage, Kurt linking his arm with Blaine's._

"_This is the moment that you've all been waiting for," Figgins continued, "Where we announce our Senior Prom King and also Prom Queen." There was a ripple of applause causing Figgins to pause and look out into the crowd, an un-amused expression on his face, the room fell silent again and Figgins smiled slightly._

"_And the Senior Prom King is…Finn Hudson!" The room erupted into a thunderous applause and Rachel cheered as Finn stepped forward to take the plastic crown. She was so proud of him in that moment, even if he didn't look out in the crowd for her._

"_And this years Prom Queen is…Quinn Fabray!" Quinn let out a wide grin as she gracefully stepped forward to collect her crown, again to a thunderous applause; Rachel smiled politely as she clapped for Quinn's victory._

"_And now behold the tradition of our 2012 Prom King and Queen, sharing their first dance," The room cheered loudly as everyone cleared some space on the floor for the newly crowned couple, the music started playing and Finn and Quinn began dancing awkwardly to the music before various other couples joined them on the floor. Kurt clasped Blaine's hand and glanced at him eagerly._

"_Just one more dance Blaine?" Kurt asked, "We've got to leave soon anyway to prepare for the party afterwards." Blaine smiled and then glanced back at Rachel, feeling guilty for leaving her on her own. Rachel smiled back at her and shook her head._

"_Go and dance with your date Blaine," she ordered, smiling at him the whole time, "I'll be fine." Blaine nodded and led Kurt into the middle of the floor, Rachel smiled as she sat down in the chair behind her and watched as the rest of New Directions gathered on the dance floor. _

"_Um, hey." Rachel turned away from the scene in front of her, and smiled when she saw Puck standing awkwardly behind her._

"_Hello Noah," she smiled, "Are you enjoying prom?"_

"_It's alright," he shrugged, before glancing towards the dance floor and then back to Rachel._

"_Listen Rach, it's prom night and you shouldn't be sitting here by yourself," he started, "Since Finn is busy dancing with Quinn, how about you dance with me?" Rachel smiled gratefully and stood up and nodded._

"_I'd be honored Noah," she smiled; he smiled back at her and took her hand inside of his and led her towards the middle of the dance floor, alongside Kurt and Blaine. Blaine lifted his eyes from Kurt's momentarily and grinned when he spotted Rachel dancing with Puck alongside him._

_Finn meanwhile was still dancing with Quinn, he'd noticed that New Directions had gathered around them and were now dancing alongside them. When he finally spotted Rachel, he was annoyed to find that she was dancing to a slow song with none other than Noah Puckerman. It angered him that Rachel insisted on spending so much time with Blaine of all people, but seeing her dancing with Puck like that – so not cool!_

_When the song came to an end, Rachel pulled away from Puck and smiled up at him._

"_Thank you Noah," she smiled, he shrugged and smirked._

"_No problem Rach," _

"_So, we're leaving now," Blaine announced, clearing his throat, _

"_What why?" Rachel asked._

"_We've got to get things ready for the party for New Directions after Prom," Kurt explained, "You two are still coming, right?" Rachel nodded and smiled before glancing at Noah who shrugged in agreement. Rachel said goodbye to Kurt and Blaine, hugging them both before they left the gym leaving Rachel and Puck alone for a few minutes._

"_So, you want some punch?" Puck asked, Rachel glanced around, looking for some sign of Finn, when she couldn't see him, she sighed and nodded as Puck led her towards the punch bowl._

"_Thank you," she smiled, as he handed her a glass, pausing briefly as she raised the glass to her lips, "You didn't put anything in this did you?" she asked, quirking her eyebrow at him, he smirked and shook his head._

"_Not this year Rach," he laughed, "Trying to be the good guy, remember?" Rachel smiled and nodded as she sipped at her punch._

"_Oh there you are," Rachel blinked and placed her glass on the table before turning around to face Finn._

"_Hey Finn," she smiled, "Congratulations on winning Prom King!" Finn continued to glare at her, making her feel extremely awkward._

"_Is something wrong?" she asked, _

"_Oh I don't know, I leave you for like half an hour and the next thing I know, you're dancing with him!" Finn spat pointing to Puck who was stood silently beside Rachel._

"_Dude, nothing happened, you were dancing with Quinn, Blaine was dancing with Kurt, she was sat on her own, shit's not cool," Puck stated, Finn's expression didn't change and Rachel sighed quietly._

"_It's okay Noah," she sighed, "I can handle this," Puck stared at her for a moment until she nodded and he reluctantly walked away._

"_We are not having this conversation here," she stated calmly turning to face Finn, and pulling him out into the deserted hallway, the sound of the music playing quietly in the background._

"_I assure you that nothing happened between Noah and I," Rachel stated calmly, "I don't see what the harm is, you were dancing with Quinn!"_

"_That's different and you know it!" Finn snapped, "We're Prom King and Queen, it's kind of expected."_

"_And what? I'm supposed to just sit by and watch?" Rachel shrieked, slightly louder than intended, but she wasn't concerned about that._

"_I'm tired of having to share my girlfriend with her ex-boyfriend's!" Finn exclaimed, Rachel's eyes widened and shook her head in shock._

"_Excuse me?" she questioned._

"_Oh come on Rachel, you've been spending a lot of time with Puck these last few months, and you spend more time with Blaine than you do with me, do you seriously expect me to believe that there is nothing going on?" Finn shouted._

"_Yes!" Rachel snapped, "If you must know I've been helping Noah prepare for his finals, and Blaine is my best friend Finn, and in case you've forgotten he's currently in a relationship with your stepbrother, do you really think that little of either of us?" Finn didn't answer; Rachel could see the look of concentration on his face and sighed quietly, resting her head against the lockers quietly._

"_I can't do this anymore Rachel," Finn said quietly, Rachel lifted her head and nodded._

"_I agree," she sighed, "This is a silly disagreement, we should be enjoying our Senior Prom, not wasting time by arguing."_

"_No Rachel. I can't do this anymore," he said gesturing between them; Rachel frowned and shook her head._

"_You don't mean that Finn," she started, but he shook his head, "No, Finn, you can't do this!"_

"_I'm sorry Rachel," he shrugged slightly before turning away from her and walking back in the direction of the gym. Rachel could feel her eyes filling with tears, despite her willing for them to disappear, yes she was hurting over the way that Finn had so carelessly threw away their relationship, but more than anything she was furious with Finn for treating her the way he had tonight. She didn't deserve this kind of humiliation, she could've reacted to Finn dancing with Quinn, aware of the history that the pair had, but she hadn't, she'd took it in her stride, content with the knowledge that when the dance had finished Finn would come back to her. What sort of fantasy world was she living in? She contemplated heading back into the gym and causing a scene, letting the student body know what sort of Prom King they had elected, but she knew deep down that it wouldn't make her feel any better. So instead she slowly made her way out to the parking lot and made the shameful phone call to her dad's to come and collect her. _

"_Hello?" Hiram answered the phone and Rachel sighed quietly._

"_Hey daddy, it's me," she said quietly, "Could you…could you come and collect me please?"_

"_I thought you were going to Finn's house tonight for the after prom party, it's all you've been talking about for weeks," he chuckled and Rachel's heart ached when she remembered that yes, Kurt and Blaine would be expecting her to turn up at the party with Finn at her side. She couldn't go home now, she just wanted to crawl into her bed and forget that this disaster of a night had ever happened, and then maybe tomorrow she could start on the path of life without Finn again._

"_Yeah, I'm not feeling to well," Rachel lied, "I think I'd rather have an early night,"_

"_Couldn't Finn bring you home, he did drive you prom after all," Rachel closed her eyes in frustration, _

"_We broke up daddy," she sighed, before hearing the disappointed sigh on the other end of the line. Rachel knew that her father's were hardly Finn's biggest fans, they'd been there through all of the heartache that he had caused their little girl over the last two years, but Rachel had convinced them that she belonged with Finn and that he did in fact loved her. _

"_Okay, we'll be there as soon as we can." Hiram said quietly, "Wait outside for us Rachel." Rachel sighed and agreed as she placed her phone into her purse and waited for her dad's to come and collect her._

"Wait, what?" Blaine asked, interrupting Rachel's story. Rachel turned to face him with a confused expression on his face; "Finn broke up with you at prom?"

"You didn't know?" Rachel asked, as if it were obvious.

"No!" Blaine said shaking his head, "Finn told us that you'd gone home because you weren't feeling well," he paused and then gently clasped Rachel's hand inside of his.

"I'm so sorry Rachel," he said quietly, "I was going to call you when Finn came without you, but Kurt convinced me not to, he said that you'd be fine. Maybe if I hadn't listened to him, then maybe…well, you know." Rachel smiled meekly and shook her head.

"You couldn't have prevented it Blaine," she said quietly, "Whether you'd called me or not,"

"No, but I should've known that something was wrong, you were my best friend Rachel." He said shaking his head, Rachel smiled and placed her free hand on top of their clasped hands.

"And you still are," she smiled, "You couldn't have known what was going to happen," Blaine sighed quietly and glanced at Rachel again.

"So, uh…when you were waiting for your dad's to collect you, was that when…uh, you know?" Blaine mumbled, again unable to find the correct phrase, Rachel sighed and nodded quietly.

_Rachel stood out in the parking lot of McKinley High School, shivering slightly in the cool summer air. She heard footsteps behind her and huffed loudly as she angrily folded her arms across her chest. She hated the fact that all her friends were inside having a wonderful Prom and she was waiting for her dad's to come and collect her like the pathetic loser that she'd been called so many times. She could hear more footsteps nearing her, she turned to look around, and frowned when she couldn't see anyone. She sighed quietly and slowly walked forward, into the light where her fathers would be able to spot her clearly, but before she could take her second step, she felt a pair of arms grab her from behind. Her instincts told her to scream and fight back, but clearly her small frame was no match for her attacker. She cursed herself for leaving her rape whistle at home, but seriously, this wasn't supposed to happen, she was supposed to be enjoying her night of dreams of Finn, instead she was living through her night of nightmares with her attacker. She cried out for help as she felt her dress been torn from her body, begging for somebody, anybody to find her and stop her from suffering with her own personal hell. Tears started pouring from her eyes as the pain ripped through her body, she started hopelessly begging her attacker to stop, although she knew that it was pointless. She sobbed loudly, despite a hand forcefully covering her mouth, her tears slid down her face as she felt her insides being ripped to pieces. When her attacker was finished with her he released his grip on her and threw her to the ground before turning and running in the opposite direction. Rachel cowered on the floor, pulling her knees tightly under her chin, desperately trying to ignore the inner pain that she was suffering as she started sobbing, desperately hoping someone would come by and find her._

"_Rachel?" Rachel wasn't sure how long she'd been curled up on the floor, she flinched and shrieked when someone placed a hand on her shoulder, she turned around quickly and tried to remove herself from his grasp, only stopping when she realized that it was her father, Hiram, with Leroy at his side._

"_Oh daddy!" she sobbed, jumping into the comfort of his arms; he tightened his grip on her and glanced at Leroy._

"_Honey, what on earth has happened to you?" Leroy asked quietly, as Hiram tried to sooth his terrified daughter._

"_Just take me home," Rachel begged in between sobs._

"_Rachel, we need to tell someone about this," Leroy reasoned, Rachel shook her head and buried her head into Hiram's shoulder._

"_Please, just take me home!" she cried out. Leroy sighed and nodded as Hiram carefully picked Rachel up and carried her over to their car, she slid onto the back seat and silently sobbed as they made their way home._

"Shh, it's okay," Blaine said soothingly as Rachel recounted her story to him, she'd crawled into his arms, desperate for some comfort as she relived the horror at that brutal night.

"You're the only person I've ever told, aside from my dad's and Shelby," she sniffed as Blaine pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Rachel. She smiled through her tears and gently wiped her eyes.

"So Amy's father, I mean, did you know?" Blaine asked, Rachel shook her head and wiped her eyes again.

"I never knew who it was," she sniffed, "That's what makes it seem even more terrifying. I used to lie awake at night reliving what happened, hoping that I'd be able to remember something, but it's always the same thing, over and over again."

"But the police, surely they could do something?" Blaine asked, causing Rachel to shake her head again.

"My dad's called the police when we got home that night," she said quietly, "I told them the same thing I've just told you, they were sympathetic and all, but they told me that there was nothing they could do until I could give them some sort of description of my attacker,"

"So even now, you've got no idea?" Blaine asked, a disbelieving tone in his voice. Rachel nodded and gave him a sad smile. "How could I not have noticed that there was something wrong?"

"Blaine you weren't to know," she told him,

"But you came back to school like nothing had happened, how did you do that?" he asked, Rachel thought for a moment and then let out a quiet sigh.

"After it happened, I just felt numb inside." She admitted, "The day after the attack, I was taken to the hospital, and they told me that I was pretty lucky, despite what had happened, I only had a few bruises, they ran some tests and that was it. My dad's wanted to keep me out of school for longer, but the more time I was at home, the more times I thinking about what happened, I needed a distraction."

"You know, when you did come back to school, Kurt did make a comment of how much you seemed to cling to me. I guess I just put it down to the break up with Finn," Rachel stared at him, and Blaine smiled softly, "We'd kind of figured that something had happened between you two, when Finn had no idea where you were."

"I guess I did attach myself more to you when I came back to school," she smiled softly at him and traced her fingers across his hand, "I guess I always felt safe when I was with you,"

"So, when did you find out about Amy?" Blaine asked, glancing down as Rachel continued to trace the outline of his hand.

"A couple of days before Nationals," she admitted, "My dad's wanted to stop me from going, they thought I was repressing what had happened to me, they were scared that I was going to have a breakdown and they wouldn't be around to help me."

"I can't believe you managed to keep all of this to yourself, you must've been terrified," Blaine sighed, Rachel nodded.

"I had to go to National's Blaine," Rachel sighed, "Do you remember the night before we competed?" Blaine nodded.

_New Directions had gathered in Puck and Sam's room, deciding to have a mini party in preparation for the competition the next day, without Mr. Schuester knowing of course. Kurt and Blaine were already there, when Mercedes had turned up without Rachel in tow. _

"_Hey, where's Rachel?" Blaine asked, when Mercedes joined them_

"_She said she wasn't feeling to good, she wants to rest up for tomorrow," Mercedes smiled, Kurt rolled his eyes and laughed fondly._

"_I think I'll go and check on her," Blaine sighed._

"_Blaine, I'm sure she'll be fine," Kurt shrugged, "You know how she gets before a competition,"_

"_Yeah, I know. But I'm worried about her," Blaine stated, kissing Kurt's cheek before heading down the hallway and knocking on Rachel's door quietly._

_The door opened slowly revealing Rachel; her eyes seemed red and puffy._

"_Mind if I join you?" Blaine asked, smiling at her. Rachel shrugged and pushed the door open and walked back into the dark room._

"_What are you doing here, I thought you were going to Noah's 'party?'" Rachel asked quietly, sitting down on the bed, Blaine sitting down next to her._

"_It wasn't the same without my best friend," he shrugged, nudging her shoulder slightly, "So, Mercedes said you weren't feeling to good, that true?" Rachel shrugged and glanced at Blaine, the amount of concern in his eyes was enough to melt through her barriers that she'd tried so hard to build around herself over the last couple of weeks._

"_I guess I didn't want to see Finn and Quinn openly flirt with each other," she mumbled, her eyes filling with tears as she continued to hide the truth from her best friend._

"_Oh Rachel," Blaine sighed, wrapping his arms around her, "You don't need Finn, you've go me," he laughed; Rachel sniffed and smiled slightly into his chest._

"_Thanks Blaine," she said quietly._

"_Are you sure that's it?" Blaine asked, Rachel bit her lip and briefly considered telling him everything, everything that she'd hid from everyone, a secret that had destroyed her life in one night, but she changed her mind and nodded._

"_Yeah, that's it," she smiled faintly._

"A part of me was desperate to tell someone, my dad's were great and everything, but they kept treating me like I was going to break at any second," Rachel sighed.

"They were worried about you Rachel," Blaine added,

"I know, but when Shelby offered to let me stay with her in New York, I finally thought that I had a chance to escape everything, you know. I could start again,"

"That's why you didn't tell me in the end?" Blaine asked, Rachel nodded and sighed.

"You were always so good to me Blaine, I didn't want you to ever look at me differently, and I scared of how people would react if they ever found out. So I ran, and I've been running ever since."

"Maybe you don't have to run anymore?" Blaine suggested quietly.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked,

"I mean, it's been six years Rachel," he smiled, "I can't even begin to imagine how you felt, but you're not the same person you were at school, you've grown up Rachel. You've got a beautiful daughter who you should be immensely proud of, you can't let this guy have the last laugh here Rachel, you need to prove to yourself that you're better than this, and that you're not going to be defined by what happened to you anymore." Rachel didn't reply straight away, instead she gave him a small smile and continued to run her fingers over Blaine's hand as she considered his words, the words that she'd heard so many times over the last six years from her dad's and Shelby.

"I have to go back, don't I?" she said suddenly, Blaine lifted his eyes from their hands and shrugged.

"I haven't been back to Lima in six years," she sighed, "I missed you so much when I left, I'd lie in bed at night and worry whether I'd made the right decision in cutting you all out of my life." She laughed slightly, "You know I still have that message that you left when you called me that day, I used to play it some nights when I couldn't sleep,"

"I wondered whether you'd received the message," Blaine smiled, "You know, if you do got back to Lima, I'll be with you every step of the way."

"Thank you," she smiled, reaching over to hug him, "How did I get so lucky to have you of all people come back into my life?" Blaine laughed and shrugs as he released his grip on her hands and hugged her properly, inhaling deeply and allowing the familiar smell of her strawberry shampoo to take over his senses.

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><p><strong>Next up: Blaine, Rachel and Amy head to Lima with a familiar face :)<strong>


	7. Do it all over again

**Thanks again for all of the reviews and alerts on this, it really means a lot.  
>This chapter is a filler, but it's a long filler. Amy is back though, hopefully you'll enjoy her in this chapter, because I love writing her character, especially as she interacts with Blaine and Rachel.<strong>

**Please review, and I hope you enjoy x**

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><p>Rachel was sitting in the taxi on the way to the airport, she'd been pretty quiet all evening, despite Blaine trying to distract her. He'd bought Amy home from Kindergarten that evening whilst Rachel finished packing for the weekend.<p>

"Are you okay?" Blaine whispered above Amy's head, as Rachel continued to stare out of the window, she didn't respond straight away, so Blaine leant across Amy and squeezed Rachel's knee, causing her to jump and face Blaine.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" she asked, blushing slightly. Blaine gave her a knowing look and shrugged.

"It's going to be okay, you know." He told her, Rachel gave him a nervous smile and nodded before glancing down at Amy, who was busy flicking through one of the books that Rachel had packed for the journey. She smiled at her daughter, she'd been so excited when Rachel had told her that she was finally going to be able to go on a real airplane and visit her grandparents instead of having them to visit her. Amy hadn't stopped talking about this trip for weeks now, taking to counting down the days on the kitchen calendar, and double checking with Blaine that he was still coming with them every time she saw him – which was a lot. The rest of the journey was pretty quiet, Blaine read to Amy quietly whilst Rachel gathered her thoughts; she'd been fine up until today. But after dropping Amy off at Kindergarten and finalizing arrangements with Blaine for that evening, it suddenly dawned on her that it was really happening, she was returning to Lima, a place that had haunted her dreams for the last six years. When they finally arrived at the airport, Blaine paid the fare, whilst Rachel took Amy's hand and collected their bags from the trunk of the car.

"Wow, it's so big mummy!" Amy grinned, jumping up and down. "Where does the plane come and pick us up?"

"We have to wait a little longer sweetheart," Rachel smiled,

"But I've been waiting all day!" Amy moaned,

"Kurt should be here any minute now," Blaine said walking up behind them, Amy grinned and stretched out to hold his hand as well. Rachel arched her eyebrow and stared at Amy and Blaine, causing Blaine to laugh loudly.

"What can I say, I have that effect on people," Blaine laughed; Rachel rolled her eyes and smiled. The three of them pushed their way out of the crowd that was emerging around them and waited next to the main doors, as they continued to wait for Kurt.

"What's taking so long?" Amy whined, "My grandpa's will be waiting for us!" Blaine laughed at her and Rachel shook her head.

"Amy, the plane isn't ready for us yet," Rachel told her, crouching down so that they were at eye level.

"Can't you tell it to hurry up? I want to go now, this is important!" Rachel sighed and opened her mouth to respond but she was beaten to it.

"She's definitely the daughter of Rachel Berry," Rachel's face broke out into a huge grin as she stood up, Amy shuffling to Blaine's side as she stared at the stranger in front of them.

"Kurt!" Rachel grinned, as Kurt pulled her into a tight hug.

"It's been far too long Diva," Kurt grinned, holding onto her tightly.

Amy shuffled further behind Blaine; it reminded Blaine of the first time they had met and how shy Amy had been back then. It made him smile to think how far she had come in that short space of time, in four months she had accepted him as part of her family. He turned around and knelt down in front of her.

"What's up Ames?" he asked her quietly.

"Why's that man hugging my mummy?" she asked him as she pointed over to Kurt and Rachel.

"That's Kurt," Blaine explained, "He used to go to the same school and your mummy and me. Do you want to say hello?" Amy stared at Kurt and Rachel for a few seconds before glancing back at Blaine and nodding slowly. Blaine grinned and took her hand as he got back up on his feet again. He cleared his throat and Rachel and Kurt turned around to face them.

"Someone wanted to say hello," Blaine grinned, nodding at Amy. Rachel smiled at Blaine gratefully and held her hand out for Amy, who slowly took it, although making sure that she never let go of Blaine's hand at the same time.

"Sweetheart, this is Kurt," Rachel grinned, Amy stared at up Kurt who was smiling down at her.

"And who do we have here?" Kurt asked, Amy glanced at Rachel and Blaine, each of them nodding at her in encouragement. Amy smiled at them both and slowly let go of their hands and took a nervous step forward.

"My name is Amy Berry," she said quietly, "We're going to visit my grandpa's, are you coming to?"

"Yes, we're all going together," Kurt nodded, Amy smiled and turned back to face Rachel.

"So can we go now?" she asked, Rachel giggled and nodded as she held out her hand to Amy, whilst Blaine collected their bags, and the four of them made their way through the airport.

Once they were all checked in, they managed to find a group of chairs together and sat down and waited for their flight to be called. Blaine noticed that Rachel seemed to be busying herself with making sure that Amy was okay, he knew that she was trying to distract herself.

"So, has she said anything about Finn?" Kurt whispered whilst Rachel took Amy for a bathroom break. Blaine shook his head.

"Amy isn't Finn's daughter, I know that much," he told Kurt honestly, "But don't ask me who is, because I have no idea." Kurt frowned but didn't say anything else, instead deciding to sit back in his chair and glance through the latest copy of Vogue.

"Mr. Blaine!" Amy giggled as she ran across the airport and jumped into his lap, Blaine laughed as he picked her up and sat her down properly. Kurt closed his magazine and stared at Blaine.

"Mr. Blaine huh?" he smirked,

"I'm Mr. Anderson at school, Blaine at home, Mr. Blaine just kind of stuck," he explained, Kurt nodded and smirked as Rachel joined back up with them.

"Ames, you can't just run off like that sweetheart," Rachel said as she sat down next to Kurt.

"But you were being to slow mummy," Amy argued, Kurt laughed quietly causing Rachel to glare at him. Blaine smiled and looked at Amy.

"Mummy's right Ames," he said, "What would happen if you got lost and we couldn't find you?" Amy thought about this for a minute before jumping off from Blaine's lap and skipping over to Rachel.

"I'm sorry Mummy," she said, Rachel smiled and pulled her onto her lap and hugged her tightly. Amy giggled when Rachel released her and sat contently on her mother's lap. She glanced at Kurt who had returned to reading his magazine.

"Why are you wearing your hat like that?" she asked as she patted Kurt's shoulder, Blaine scoffed loudly and Rachel gasped loudly, trying to hide her giggles.

"Excuse me?" Kurt asked, lifting his head and staring directly at Amy.

"Amy, you mustn't say things like that, it's rude," Rachel scolded,

"But it looks funny mummy." Amy explained, Kurt's eyes widened in horror as he stared at the little girl in front of him, he could hear Blaine laughing next to him, so he turned and glared at him.

"Is she for real? Does she not understand the laws of fashion?" he asked.

"Kurt, she's five," Blaine laughed.

"That is no excuse!" Kurt snapped, before turning back to Amy and Rachel, who were giggling quietly.

"Although, it's clear that she's obviously inherited her mother's style," Kurt remarked, Rachel stopped giggling and frowned at Kurt.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked,

"All I'm saying is, while your style may have changed over the years, there is no denying that this _charming_ little girl is definitely your daughter." Kurt stated,

"You shouldn't say stuff like that, it's rude!" Amy scolded, causing Kurt, Blaine and Rachel to laugh again. Before Rachel or Kurt had a chance to say anything else, their flight was called and the four of them made their way to the gate. Rachel desperately trying to calm down a more excited than usual Amy.

"Is she always like that?" Kurt whispered to Blaine as Rachel and Amy walked in front of them.

"She's a good kid Kurt," Blaine smiled, "She's just excited, she's never been on a plane before."

The flight was pretty calm, Rachel was anxious for a number of reasons, but her main concern was how Amy would react being on the plane, but she didn't really have a reason to worry too much. Amy was delightful on the plane, but Rachel was grateful that she had thought to pack her colouring book and her pens, because it kept her occupied for the majority of the journey.

"What are you drawing Ames?" Blaine asked, peering over the little girls shoulder,

"Stop peeking!" Amy shrieked, "You can look when I'm finished," Rachel giggled quietly and Blaine smirked at her.

"You feeling okay?" he asked Rachel, she shrugged and smiled at him.

"I think so," she said quietly, as she glanced down at Amy who had now stuck her tongue out in concentration as she added the finishing touches to her drawing.

"I'm finished now," she announced as she handed the page to Blaine proudly. He smiled as he stared at the page.

"That's lovely Ames," he smiled, "What is it?" Amy huffed loudly and took the page out of his hand.

"It's us," she stated as if it was obvious, "See, that's me in the middle," Blaine nodded as she pointed to the small figure in the middle of the page, "That's mummy, holding my hand and that's you, there. That's my family!" Blaine froze for minute as he stared at the page in front of him, before glancing at Rachel who was giving him the same stunned expression.

"Oh, well um, I think it's brilliant Ames," Blaine said.

"I know!" Amy grinned, "You can have this one." She handed the page back to Blaine who continued to stare at it for a few more minutes, whilst Rachel busied herself with the inflight magazine. Kurt meanwhile, had been pretty quiet on the plane, spending the majority of the journey observing Rachel and Blaine and how they seemed to interact with each other. They seemed to be closer than ever; even the way that they looked at each other was different now, it was as if they were able to tell what the other was thinking without actually saying anything. Kurt had also witnessed Blaine's reaction when Amy had declared him a part of her family alongside Rachel. Kurt knew that Blaine had always held a soft spot for Rachel, and even though Kurt was aware that they had managed to rebuild their friendship, they were a lot closer than Blaine would have originally led Kurt to believe.

They finally arrived at the airport and Rachel immediately felt her heartbeat increase as she clasped Amy's hand tightly and walked through the terminal on the lookout for her dad's.

"Is she okay?" Kurt asked as he stared at Rachel who seemed to be in her own world.

"She's not been back for so long." Blaine explained, "She'll be okay," Kurt nodded, although he wasn't so sure as he continued to watch Rachel.

"Grandpa!" Amy shrieked loudly, as she struggled out of Rachel's grasp and ran into Hiram's arms.

"I went on a plane grandpa!" Amy announced proudly as Hiram hoisted her high into the air, Rachel smiled as Leroy pulled her into a tight embrace, thrilled at finally having his daughter back home in Lima again. Kurt and Blaine caught up with them, Kurt saying hello briefly before trudging through the airport to meet up with Burt and Carole who were apparently waiting outside for him.

"You remember Blaine, don't you dad?" Rachel smiled, pulling Blaine over to her father.

"It's good to see you again Blaine," Leroy smiled, shaking Blaine's hand.

"You to sir, and thanks again for letting me stay with you for the weekend. I could've easily checked into a hotel." Blaine explained, still grateful that the Berry's had so willingly agreed to let him stay with them. Blaine's parent's had left Ohio a few years ago now, so whenever Blaine was due back in Lima he would usually check into a hotel, or depend on the few friends that he still had in Lima, to let him stay with them.

"Nonsense, you've been so good to Rachel, it's the least we could do," Leroy grinned, Blaine smiled and glanced at Rachel who was blushing slightly, "And don't call me sir, it makes me sound old, I know I'm a grandpa, but I'm not that old. Call me Leroy." Blaine chuckled and nodded as he made a mental note in his head.

"Now come on, let's get you kids home. You must be exhausted," Hiram announced, placing Amy on his shoulders.

"Not me grandpa, I could stay up all night," she said as she tried not to yawn. Hiram and Leroy laughed loudly as they made their way out of the airport, Blaine and Rachel following closely behind them.

Rachel smiled as she carried Amy into the guest bedroom, despite the little girl arguing that she wasn't tired, she had only managed to stay awake for another hour and had crashed on the couch whilst the adults finished their meal. Rachel pulled back the covers and gently placed Amy inside, before covering her up again. She sat on the edge of the bed just watching her sleep for a few minutes, pleased with how happy and content she seemed here. Quietly, Rachel got up and switched off the bedroom light, leaving the door open slightly before heading across the hall into her own room. She flicked the light switch on and smiled when she realized that her father's hadn't changed a thing since she had left. She knew that deep down they had wished that staying with Shelby would only be a temporary arrangement and she'd return home to them, but weeks became months, and months into years, and Rachel just hadn't been able to face coming home, until Blaine came along. She glanced at her photo's that were still hanging on the walls after all these years, most of them were taken at various Glee parties and competitions, but one caught her eye in particular. It was a picture of herself and Blaine, it had been taken in one of Mr. Schuester's duets competition senior year. He had put a ban on couples competing for the prize, despite Kurt complaining that the first time he had someone to duet with the rules were changed. But Rachel and Blaine stuck together and took the competition by storm, they'd had so much fun during that week as they rehearsed their number, it was then that firmly set the barrier for their friendship. She smiled as she placed the photo back on her nightstand as she continued to stare at the various pictures on her walls. She couldn't help thinking what her younger self would say if she could see her now, or what she would say to her younger self if she had the chance. She'd tell her not to go to the senior prom with Finn for a start, but everything else? She wasn't so sure.

"So, Rachel tells us you're a Kindergarten teacher now?" Hiram asked as he sat down next to his partner, "I hope Amy isn't giving you too much trouble."

"Not at all," Blaine laughed, "She's great, and you can certainly tell that she's inherited some of Rachel's personality traits,"

"Well, Rachel always has been strong minded." Hiram laughed

"She wouldn't be Rachel otherwise," Blaine shrugged

"I guess not." Hiram agreed, Blaine nodded and the three men sat in silence for a minute. Blaine could tell that Hiram and Leroy were watching him, and he couldn't help wishing that Rachel would hurry up, he'd always liked the Berry's and he was grateful that they were letting him stay with them, but parents freaked him out a little.

"Blaine, we'd like to talk to you, if you don't mind that is?" Leroy asked, Blaine shook his head; he was hardly going say was he?

"Go ahead," Blaine said.

"We just want to thank you," Blaine gave him a confused look.

"I don't understand," he started.

"Shelby has told us how good you've been to Rachel over the last few months, we also know that she's told you everything that happened to her." Blaine nodded.

"We lost our daughter six years ago Blaine, she isn't the same person she used to be, she lost her drive. Then you came back, and somehow our daughter has returned to us, we don't know how you've done it, but we can't begin to thank you enough." Hiram explained.

"We just hope you can forgive us for not telling you anything all those years ago, we both know how much it hurt you when you found she had left. But again, somehow you were the one who managed to track her down after all these years." Leroy continued.

"You really don't have to thank me," Blaine shrugged, "I'm just glad we're friends again,"

Rachel walked back down the stairs and she could hear her father's talking to Blaine, she smiled, pleased that they were getting along and walked into the lounge and sat down on the sofa next to Blaine.

"So what are we talking about?" she asked,

"Oh nothing," Hiram smiled, before nodding slightly at Blaine who returned the favor.

"Well I think I'll head to bed," Leroy announced, "You coming?" he glanced at Hiram who nodded. Both men stood up and kissed their daughter goodnight before leaving Blaine and Rachel alone for the first time since they had arrived in Lima. It didn't take them long to relax either, Rachel spreading out on out on the couch as Blaine placed his arm around her. Rachel started flicking through the television channels, trying to find something to focus on.

"Well, you've finally done it." Blaine grinned, "You're finally back in Lima."

"Yeah, I guess I am." Rachel said quietly, Blaine turned to look at her and sighed as he took the Television remote out of her hand.

"Come on, tell me what you're thinking," he said giving her a knowing look.

"You know, we probably are too close," Rachel smirked, "You always seem to know when there is something on my mind."

"It's a gift," he shrugged, "Now spill."

"I guess I'm just nervous about going to McKinley again tomorrow," she mumbled, Blaine squeezed her shoulder and smiled at her.

"I know it's not going to be easy, but you need to look at the positives here. You're going to be seeing all of your old friends again, you can't let your fear take that away from you." Blaine told her, Rachel nodded and smiled gratefully at him.

"Thanks Blaine," she smiled, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Why don't you go to bed?" Blaine suggested, "It's been a long day."

"Yeah, I didn't really sleep much last night either," Rachel nodded as she removed herself from Blaine's grasp and headed upstairs to get a spare set of blankets and pillows for Blaine to use. She walked back downstairs where Blaine had already changed out of jeans, and into an old T-Shirt and a pair of boxers. Rachel smiled at him and handed him the blankets

"Thanks Rachel," he smiled as she helped him to make a bed as bed she could on the couch.

"Thanks again Blaine," Rachel smiled, "And I'm sorry if I've been a little out of sorts today."

"Come here," Blaine grinned and pulled her into a tight hug, Rachel let out a content sigh as she placed her head on his shoulder. Blaine smiled and placed his hands on her lower back, holding her close to him. Their hug lasted longer than usual and Rachel was the first to pull away giving Blaine a confused look.

"Goodnight Blaine," she said quietly, before turning and heading upstairs.

"Yeah, goodnight Rachel," Blaine said quietly, watching her walk away.

Amy woke up early the next morning, before running into Rachel's room and jumping on her bed. Not that Rachel really minded, she'd been awake for a while now.

"Morning sweetheart." Rachel grinned as Amy crawled into her lap.

"It's really quiet in this house mummy," Amy stated, "Is it time to get up yet?" Rachel glanced at her clock and shrugged quietly.

"I suppose we could go and get some breakfast," Rachel smiled, "Would you like that?" Amy nodded eagerly and jumped of the bed and ran down the stairs with Rachel following quietly behind her, desperately trying not to wake her dad's or Blaine who was probably still sleeping in the lounge.

"Come on Mummy!" Amy giggled as she opened the door the lounge,

"Amy, Blaine's still sleeping!" Rachel hissed, Amy giggled and ran inside the room, leaving Rachel to chase after her.

Amy crept towards Blaine who was still lying across the couch, she stared at his face, trying to make sure if he was still asleep. She frowned and glanced at Rachel who had just walked into the room, frantically gesturing for her to come away.

"Amy, come away!" Rachel whispered, Amy shook her head and poked Blaine in the chest.

"I don't think he's sleeping mummy, he keeps blinking his eyes," Amy explained, "Mr. Blaine, are you awake? Can you hear me Mr. Blaine?" she poked him again and Blaine let out a quiet groan. Rachel shook her head and walked towards Amy and pulled her away.

"Amy, just because you're awake, it doesn't mean everybody else should be," Rachel scolded,

"But look mummy," Amy sighed pointing towards Blaine whose eyes were opening slowly, Rachel turned around and sent Blaine and apologetic smile at he sat up slowly.

"I'm so sorry Blaine," she said quietly, "I tried to stop her."

"What time is it?" Blaine croaked, rubbing at his eyes as Amy skipped over to him.

"7:30," Rachel said quietly, "Like I said, I didn't want to wake you."

"No, it's fine," he said, smiling at her, as he picked Amy up and sat her down next to him, Rachel smiled as she stared at them both, as Amy turned the television on and started looking for her favourite show.

"So, I'll prepare some breakfast huh?" Rachel suggested, Amy grinned and nodded. Rachel laughed and walked into the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone.

When she was finished cooking, she called Blaine and Amy into the kitchen and placed their plates in front of them, and handing Blaine a steaming mug of coffee. He picked it up and inhaled deeply, allowing the aroma to fill his senses.

"You are a lifesaver Rachel," he grinned.

"Well, I figured you'd need it after your wake up call this morning," she grinned gesturing to Amy who was tucking into her pancakes, she giggled quietly and continued to eat quietly. Blaine shrugged at Rachel and started eating his own breakfast quietly.

Later that morning, Blaine suggested that the three of them head out to park, giving Amy a chance to see where Rachel grew up. Of course Amy agreed immediately, rushing to get to ready, leaving Rachel no choice but to agree. Blaine had only suggested the outing to give Rachel a reason to leave the house for a while, he thought that by leaving the house and seeing more of Lima, then it would make returning to McKinley that little bit easier.

"Mummy, look it's the man with the funny hat!" Amy grinned as she pointed to Kurt across the street from them as they walked to the park, Blaine and Rachel turned to look and smiled when they saw him standing next to Mercedes. Kurt had heard Amy's comment and had immediately turned around, before pulling Mercedes across the street to greet them.

"Rachel? Girl, where have you been all these years?" Mercedes asked, pulling Rachel into a hug, Rachel pulled away and shrugged.

"I live in New York now," Rachel explained,

"Of course you do," Mercedes nodded as Amy huffed loudly behind them both.

"I thought we were going to the park?" she asked Blaine, Mercedes peered behind Rachel and stared at Amy and Blaine and then back to Rachel.

"This is Amy, she's my daughter," Rachel explained, Mercedes eyes widened as she stared at the miniature Rachel in front of her, Amy grinned and waved and then pulled at Blaine's hand.

"Wow," was all Mercedes to could say, she glanced at Kurt who simply nodded.

"We were heading to the park, if you two wanted to come with us?" Rachel suggested, Mercedes and Kurt agreed and Amy shrieked loudly as Blaine hoisted Amy onto his shoulders and ran of in the direction of the park. Rachel giggled as she chased after them, causing Kurt and Mercedes to stare after them.

"You know Rachel, I know this adorable boutique in New York that would be perfect for Amy," he suggested, as the four adults watched Amy play.

"I happen to like the way I dress her," Rachel stated, Kurt rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Of course you do," he sighed, "But think about it Rachel, I'm sure I could get you discount, I sent a lot business their way after my article about children's fashion was published a few months ago," Rachel shook her head and smiled.

"Thank you Kurt, but I think I'll stick to the clothes she wears now, they're perfect for a girl of her age." Kurt and Mercedes glanced at each other and smirked.

"Some things never change," Mercedes grinned, nudging Rachel's shoulder, "So why didn't you tell anyone about Amy?" Rachel glanced at Blaine who was sat on the grass in front of them and he shot her a supportive smile, she took a deep breath and shrugged.

"I don't know, I thought about telling you all, but I guess something always got in the way." She explained, Mercedes nodded quietly, not entirely believing Rachel's story, but going along with it anyway. The four adults continued to talk, Mercedes filling them all in on what was happening in her life, Rachel listened on, slightly jealous that Mercedes was living out her dream, but happy for her friend at the same time. They were all pulled from their conversation when they heard a loud thud, Rachel turned around quickly and gasped when she saw Amy lying on the floor crying, she got up quickly but Blaine beat her to it, running over and picking up Amy and carrying her over to Rachel. Rachel watched on, smiling gratefully as she watched Blaine comfort Amy, making sure she was okay, before crouching down and cuddling Amy until the crying died down. Mercedes and Kurt glanced at each other and nodded towards Blaine and Rachel, Mercedes smirked knowingly and Kurt just shrugged.

"Well, we should be going anyway," Rachel explained, as Amy sniffed quietly and wiped her eyes,

"Yeah, but we'll catch up with you two later though?" Blaine asked, as he stood up and held Amy's hand.

"Yeah, of course," Mercedes grinned, hugging Rachel again, "It's so good to see you again Rachel."

"You to," Rachel grinned, "Say bye to Mercedes and Kurt, Amy." Amy sniffed quietly and shook her head staring at her now scuffed shoes instead. Mercedes smiled warmly and Kurt shook his head.

"It's okay," he smiled, "I hope you feel better soon Amy," Rachel thanked him quietly and she turned to walk away with Blaine and Rachel.

"So what's their deal?" Mercedes asked when she and Kurt were finally alone, Kurt shrugged and glanced over his shoulder as he watched Rachel and Blaine walk away, with Amy in the middle of them.

"You know Blaine has always had a soft spot for Rachel," Kurt shrugged,

"Yeah, but did you see the way Blaine looked at her?" Mercedes continued, "Are you sure it's just friendship between them?"

"I don't know 'Cedes, although you'd be blind to notice how close they are now, especially with Amy a part of the equation. You didn't see them on the plane last night." Mercedes smirked and Kurt rolled his eyes.

"I'll speak to Blaine tonight, you and the girls can distract Rachel."

"It's a plan." Mercedes grinned.

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><p><strong>Coming up: Rachel faces her demons and returns to McKinley and catches up with the rest of ND. Kurt talks to Blaine.<strong>


	8. Accidental

**Thank you for the amazing response to the last chapter, I really wasn't expecting it, especially as nothing major happened, but you all seemed to enjoy the Blaine/Rachel/Amy interactions :) I promise, there will be more to come. ****Moving onto the next chapter, I like this chapter as it finally moves the story onto the next stage of the story. I won't say anything more because I don't want to give too much away.**

**Oh yeah, I'm also on Tumblr now, my name is UKGLEEK, so yeah, add me on there, say hello etc. **

**Hope you enjoy x**

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><p>"Hey Ames, how are you feeling now?" Blaine asked later that evening when he had finished getting ready for the party. Rachel was sat on the couch next to her. Hiram and Leroy had practically had to force Rachel to go and get changed as she continued to fuss over the little girl.<p>

"My head still hurts." Amy mumbled, as she cuddled further into Rachel's side, Rachel sighed quietly and gently stroked Amy's back.

"You'll be alright Ames," Blaine smiled as he sat down on the chair next to the couch, "You've been such a brave girl today."

"Maybe I should stay with her?" Rachel whispered, as she glanced at Blaine. Blaine stared at her, aware at what she was going. Hiram and Leroy walked back into the lounge and smiled softly at their granddaughter snuggled into Rachel's side.

"How's the patient?" Hiram asked, crouching down on the floor.

"She's still not feeling herself," Rachel sighed, "I was just saying that maybe I should skip the party tonight, Amy needs me."

"Rachel honey," Leroy sighed, placing his hand on her shoulder, "Amy will be fine with us,"

"It's not that I don't trust you both, because I do," Rachel started, causing Leroy to chuckle quietly, Rachel bit her lip and glanced across at Blaine who was still staring at her.

"You two go and enjoy yourselves, let us take care of our granddaughter for the evening," Leroy stated, Rachel gave him a feint smile and kissed the top of Amy's head.

"Do you have to go mummy?" Amy asked, lifting her head to face her properly, "I want you and Mr. Blaine to stay here with me,"

"She'll be fine Rachel," Hiram told Rachel as he scooped Amy into his arms, Leroy glanced at Blaine and he took this as his signal to guide Rachel out of the house and into Leroy's car that he had willingly allowed them to borrow for the evening.

The drive to McKinley was pretty quiet, Blaine turned the radio on quietly as he drove and Rachel absently tapped out the beat to the songs on the car door.

"You okay?" he asked her, as they pulled up at a red light.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine." She paused for a minute, "Do you really think that Amy will be okay? Maybe we should go back and check on her?"

"Rachel." Blaine sighed as he pulled off again, "We both know that Amy is going to be fine."

"But I've never left her when she's ill before Blaine," Rachel sighed, "Do you think we should have bought a card for Mr. Schue? I've never been to one of these before; I don't know what the social etiquette is." She rambled on and Blaine smiled fondly at her.

"It's okay to be scared about going to McKinley you know, but you've done so well to get this far."

"I wasn't thinking about that, I was looking out for my daughter," Rachel protested, Blaine gave her a quick glance and Rachel sighed and admitted defeat gracefully.

"Fine, so you're right again." Rachel giggled, "I just don't know how I'm supposed to feel, you know?" Blaine nodded and as he pulled into the McKinley parking lot, it was already half full as he started looking for a space. Rachel bit her lip as she stared out of the window, and took in the familiar building. Blaine parked the car and turned his head to look at Rachel, who was shaking slightly. He unbuckled his seat belt and placed his hand on top of hers, rubbing his thumb across the top. She turned to face him and gave him an uneasy smile.

"We're in this together Rachel," he told her, "Anytime you're feeling anxious or scared, just squeeze my hand."

Rachel nodded and smiled at him, taking a deep breath. "I'm ready."

Blaine grinned as he got out of the car and walked around to Rachel's side, he held out his arm, which she gratefully took and the pair slowly made their way towards the building. As they neared the main doors, Blaine felt Rachel's body tense as she froze on the spot.

"I can't do this," she mumbled, taking a few shaky steps backwards. Blaine stared at her, and tightened his grip on his arm.

"Yes you can," he told her adamantly, as her breathing rapidly increased and tears began to fill her eyes, "You're Rachel Berry!" he grinned, "You took a slushy in this place every day because you refused to change who you were, you were the girl to call Dave Karofsky out when I first transferred to McKinley, you can do anything you set your mind to Rachel!"

"But I'm not that girl anymore Blaine," Rachel sighed as she shook her head, "I haven't been that girl for years, I've forgotten who she is."

"She's still in there Rachel," Blaine smiled as he gently poked at her stomach; Rachel gave him a sad smile and turned away. "Just look at me." He reached out and gently tilted her face to look at him directly, "All you need is some courage," Rachel smiled at him and used her free hand to wipe away the few tears that had managed to escape.

"I used to think that line was incredibly cheesy, all those time you texted Kurt," she smiled; Blaine shrugged and grinned at her.

"It worked though, didn't it?" Rachel smiled and nodded.

"I guess it did, he got you out of it, didn't he?" Blaine smiled glanced towards the school building again.

"You want to try again?" he asked, Rachel bit her lip and glanced up at the steps in front of her, a part of her was screaming at her to forget everything and follow Blaine inside, that times had changed and she was not the same girl she was the last time she was here. But then the other part of her was telling her to run away as fast as she could and never look back. Then she glanced at Blaine who was being so patient and supportive of her, she didn't want to let him down, so going against her instincts she took a deep breath and nodded, and the two of them walked up the steps and into the building.

"It seems like only yesterday I was walking down this hall senior year," Blaine chuckled, "Kurt was so shocked that day."

"Yeah, I remember," Rachel smiled, "I'd never seen him so happy as he was that day."

The two of them made their way towards the gym, hearing music playing softly in the background, as they got nearer. Blaine could feel Rachel's grip tightening on his hand as they walked through the deserted hallways. Blaine gave her a supportive smile as they pushed the door open and walked inside, both of them pausing when they saw the amount of people that had gathered in the auditorium.

"Wow, I guess Mr. Schue was more popular then we thought," Blaine mused Rachel nodded and smiled fondly.

"He always was a good teacher, the only one at this place who actually believed in his students." Blaine nodded as he scanned the room, looking for a familiar face as he ushered Rachel further inside, never letting go of her hand.

"Do you recognize anyone?" he whispered to Rachel, she shook her head and giggled slightly, "Come on, let's go and get a drink, we won't look so awkward then." Rachel agreed and followed Blaine towards the refreshment table at the back of the room. As Blaine poured her a drink, Rachel took the opportunity to scan the room, she had never ever thought that she'd return to McKinley, she thought back to when she was at school and how she dreamt of leaving Lima and having the best that life possibly had to give, then returning years later and having the people that had laughed at her dreams apologize to her and praise her on all of her success. She wondered how they'd react to her now, when the realized that was all they had been, dreams, now she was just another statistic. Then she thought of Amy, and no matter all the hurt that she'd dealt with over the last few years, she wouldn't change any of it if it meant that she wouldn't have Amy in her life.

"Rachel Berry?" Rachel blinked as she pulled from her thoughts, she turned around quickly, her eyes searching for Blaine who had seemingly disappeared, but instead she found an aging William Schuester.

"Mr. Shuester!" Rachel grinned, "Congratulations!"

"It is you, I wasn't sure if you were coming, we didn't have a forwarding address for you." He explained, Rachel smiled as Blaine returned to her and entwined his fingers with hers.

"I convinced her to come," Blaine grinned, as Rachel leant her body against his, their hands never breaking contact. "It's good to see you again Mr. Schue," he grinned, shaking hands with his former teacher.

"Yeah, you to." He glanced at Rachel and Blaine and smiled at them, "So are you two…?" He trailed off and stared at them, Rachel blushed and shook her head as Blaine tried to form a coherent sentence.

"No! No, I mean, we're not, I mean, I'm…" he trailed off as Rachel started giggling at him.

"We're just good friends," she explained, "We met up a few months ago at my daughter's kindergarten."

"You have a daughter?" Mr. Schue asked, and Rachel couldn't help but notice the stunned expression on his face, she shrugged it off, knowing that Amy was probably the only thing she had in her life to proud of, other than her friendship with Blaine.

"Yeah, her name is Amy," Rachel explained, "I've got a picture somewhere in my purse,"

"So what about you Blaine, either you're in the teaching profession or you've got a child of your own." Mr. Schue asked as Rachel began searching in her purse for her photo of Amy that she carried with her everywhere.

"I've been teaching for about two years now, the music thing wasn't really for me," he explained as Rachel pulled out her photo and handed it over to Mr. Schue before clasping Blaine's hand again.

"Wow, she looks just like you," Mr. Schue smiled, "So what do you do now Rachel, I figured you'd have taken over Broadway by now."

"Oh…well, you know, I…" she glanced at Blaine who beamed at her.

"She's a singer," he explained smoothly, "She's top of the bill at a restaurant in New York."

"Oh, well. It's not quite what I thought you'd be doing, but I'm pleased you're doing well." Rachel nodded, noting the disappointed tone in her former teachers voice, she frowned slightly, but Blaine squeezed her hand gently and she was back to feeling calm and reassured.

"Well it was lovely seeing you both again, but I've got to go and mingle again." They said their goodbyes and he disappeared into the crowd. Rachel frowned after him, and turned around to face Blaine, resting her forehead against his chest.

"You lied for me," she said quietly.

"It wasn't a big lie," he shrugged, "You do sing at the restaurant."

"Thank you," she said, not bothering to lift her head. Blaine smiled and kissed the top of her head, as he placed his hands on her lower back and held her body close to his.

Mercedes and Kurt arrived shortly after, spotting Blaine and Rachel immediately as they walked through the doors, Blaine tapped Rachel's back and they broke their intimate hold and resumed to holding hands, Rachel still not feeling comfortable enough to take on McKinley on her own.

"A lot of people turned up huh?" Mercedes commented, as one by one the former members of New Directions began to arrive, "Hey look, it's Artie and Brittany!" Rachel grinned as Brittany wheeled Artie across the room, before noting the shocked expressions on their faces.

"Oh my god, Artie it's Rachel!" Brittany shrieked, as she started jumping up and down, "Lord Tubbington told me that I'd be seeing someone from my past again soon," she paused and glanced over her shoulder, "He's started palm reading now," she whispered, Rachel stared at Brittany in confusion, somewhat forgetting how eccentric the former cheerleader could be. Artie smiled fondly at his fiancé, before glancing up at Rachel.

"Didn't think we'd see you again," he grinned,

"Blaine convinced me to come." Rachel smiled, as Blaine squeezed her hand gently again. Artie nodded, as Mercedes and Kurt shared a knowing glance, "He also tells me that congratulations are in order, I'm so happy for you both."

The reunion continued, Rachel facing the same confused looks each time someone else arrived, in fact it had almost become a reflex for her now to explain that Blaine had convinced her to come, no she hadn't taken over Broadway, yes she had a daughter. Blaine had been great throughout, remaining by her side, helping her to deal with the awkward questions and keeping her calm when people just wouldn't accept her simple answers. Quinn and Finn were the last to arrive, Kurt explaining that with Quinn so close to her due date, things were getting tense in the Hudson household. But they eventually turned up, and Blaine felt Rachel's body tense again, the first time since they had walked through the main doors.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, as their friends continued to catch up.

"I'm fine," Rachel assured him, "It's just seeing him again, I don't know, it's like seeing what could have been, it's stupid right?"

"He was your first love," Blaine shrugged, "He was also the last person that you had some sort of relationship with, of course you're going to feel weird," Rachel smiled gratefully at him and nudged his shoulder gently with her own, as Quinn and Finn approached them both.

They caught up quickly, making the necessary small talk, before Quinn excused herself to go to the bathroom, Rachel let out a sigh of relief, hoping that Finn would escort her, but Finn's feet remained firmly on the ground.

"So erm…" he rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at Blaine and Rachel again, "Kurt tells me that you've got a kid," Blaine's grip tightened on Rachel's hand as he could sense where this conversation was going.

"Her name is Amy," Rachel explained, "She's five."

Finn nodded again and shuffled her feet on the ground.

"Look Rachel, I'm happy now, I'm married to Quinn, and we're having a baby together." He stated, Rachel frowned at him, and Blaine shook his head.

"I'm aware of that Finn, Blaine has filled me in on everything." Rachel held her head high and smiled at him, "And I really am happy for you both." Finn stared at Rachel intently for a minute before his eyes drifted over to Blaine who subtly shook his head. Finn nodded and let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh well good, I just wanted to clear that up," Rachel nodded slowly and gave him an awkward smile.

"Of course you did," she said slowly, "Quinn's been gone a while, you might want to go and check on her, I remember how uncomfortable it can be in the last few weeks of pregnancy."

"Right, yeah," Finn nodded, before rushing off towards the doors of the gym, Rachel shook her head and laughed quietly, leaning into Blaine again.

"What was that about?" she giggled.

"That was classic Finn Hudson," Blaine grinned, "Still feeling awkward about seeing him again." Rachel giggled again and shook her head.

"Definitely not," Rachel laughed, as the two started giggling quietly, as Blaine led Rachel back over to the rest of New Directions.

The evening continued and eventually Rachel managed to separate herself from Blaine as the girls pulled her away from the guys to catch up correctly, whilst Blaine hung back to catch up with his old friends, and Kurt who had been desperate to talk to him alone since he had arrived.

"So, how's your love life looking Blaine?" Kurt asked as casually as he possibly could as they found a table, Blaine laughed loudly as he sat down and stared at his friend.

"Nothing really to tell," he laughed,

"Interesting," Kurt mused, nodding slowly. Blaine quirked his eyebrow and stared at Kurt.

"I'm flattered Kurt, but I think we're better as friends these days, don't you agree?" Kurt blinked a couple of times as he stared at Blaine before shaking his head quickly.

"What? No! That's not what I meant!" Kurt stuttered, "I was just curious. So there's really nothing to tell?" Blaine sighed quietly and his eyes scanned the room slowly until they locked on Rachel where she was talking to Quinn and the rest of the girls. Kurt smirked and nodded.

"I knew it," he commented, Blaine blinked and quickly returned his gaze back to Kurt.

"What?" he asked.

"It was always obvious that you had feelings for Rachel," Kurt smirked, "I always said you two were far too close to be best friends, I think I noticed it more when her disappearance so soon after graduation messed you up more than it probably should have,"

"I…What? Nothing ever happened between us, our friendship was strictly platonic." Kurt nodded and smirked as he realized that whilst Blaine had denied that anything had ever happened between himself and Rachel, he had yet to deny that he had any sort of feelings for Rachel.

"I know that nothing ever happened between you both," Kurt smiled, "But it didn't stop you falling in love with her anyway. You can't control who you fall in love with."

Blaine paused as he stared at Kurt, before realization started to slowly sink in.

"Weren't you the one who once told me that bisexuality didn't exist?" Blaine asked

"Granted, that probably wasn't my finest hour." Kurt laughed, "But we've all grown up since then Blaine."

"We're just friends Kurt," Blaine argued, although Kurt couldn't help noticing that his protests were getting weaker as the conversation continued.

"I've seen the way you look at her Blaine, how protective you are of her. You can't deny how comfortable you are in her family unit, look how you've bonded with Amy." He paused for a minute to stare at him, "Look at your reaction when Amy declared you a part of her family. Whether you're aware of it or not, you're in love with Rachel Berry." Blaine's eyes widened as realization flashed across his face. Kurt was right, damn it, Kurt was really right. His eyes scanned the room again for Rachel who was now sat at a table with Quinn, the two of them talking intently and he let out a quiet sigh, as he struggled to come to terms with Kurt's revelation. He was worried about Rachel's emotional state, would she be able to deal with this, even if she was, would she even consider having a relationship with him, they'd always been friends, nothing more. His chest tightened slightly at the thought of telling her any of this, as he realized that it could potentially ruin their friendship. He felt sick.

"You need to tell her Blaine," Kurt said quietly.

"It's complicated," Blaine mumbled as he finally pulled his eyes away from Rachel.

"When is it not?" Kurt laughed, "She deserves to know the truth, you two could be happy together."

"You think so?" Blaine asked, Kurt nodded and smiled at his friend.

"Of course I do, I haven't seen you this happy in some time Blaine, and Rachel, well she was always happiest when she was with you."

"Congratulations by the way Quinn," Rachel smiled as Quinn joined the girls on the opposite side of the room, "Do you know what you're having?"

"It's a boy, we're calling him Daniel." Quinn grinned; Rachel could feel the happiness radiating from her, as the two of them sat down at a free table.

"Daniel Hudson?" Rachel mused, "That's cute." Quinn nodded and glanced at the other girls other behind her, before leaning across the table to Rachel.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked quietly, Rachel bit her lip and nodded, "How do you know what to do?"

"It just comes to you I guess," Rachel shrugged.

"Really, I've read all the books I could get my hands on, but I still don't feel prepared, does that make me sound crazy, Finn's really excited, but I'm terrified that I'm going to get something wrong," Rachel smiled and shook her head,

"Quinn, I felt exactly the same when I had to take care of Amy on my own for the first time, but it's something you pick up. Amy is six in a couple of months, and I'm still learning." Rachel explained, "I'm sure Finn and you will be great parents."

"Thanks Rachel," Quinn smiled, as tears began filling her eyes, "I'm so sorry I was mean to you in school," she began to wipe her eyes quickly and shook her head, "Stupid hormones," she giggled. Rachel smiled and shook her head.

"It was years ago Quinn, it doesn't matter now. But thank you." The two women smiled at each other and shared a look of understanding, as Rachel wrote down her current e-mail address and phone number and told Quinn to call her if she had any questions after Daniel was born. They continued to talk for a while longer, as Quinn talked to Rachel about her wedding the previous year, whilst Rachel spent most of her time discussing Amy and giving Quinn some advice on what to expect for the first couple of months. It was in that one conversation that Rachel realized that both of them had truly grown up and neither of them were the same two people they were once in High School.

"Mind if we join you two?" Santana asked bluntly as she sat down at their table, with Mercedes, Brittany and Tina closely behind them. Rachel nodded as the other pulled chairs towards their table and stared at Rachel with curious expressions on their faces.

"Okay, I'm just going cut to the chase," Santana stated, "What's going on with you and the other hobbit over there?" she asked, glancing over at Blaine who was in deep conversation with Kurt.

"Santana!" Mercedes hissed.

"What, it's all we've been talking about tonight, we might as well get details," Santana shrugged,

"Wait, what?" Rachel asked in confusion as she glanced at her old friends, each of them smiling at her, waiting for her to give an answer.

"Please Rachel, you've barely left each other's side all night," Mercedes smirked, as Tina and Brittany nodded at her side.

"We're just friends," Rachel shrugged, "In case you've forgotten, Blaine's gay."

"Please, we all know that you were the only girl to ever make him question his sexuality," Santana interjected, "And when you weren't making gooey eyes over Hudson, you were with Blaine. Hell, you two were more inseparable than the legitimate couples in glee."

"She's got a point," Mercedes grinned. Rachel froze for a minute, she feel her heart-beating heavy against her chest and began to feel sick, silently realizing that they were right. They'd seen what she'd been ignoring the entire time.

"I need some air," she told her friends, excusing herself and heading outside. She didn't know where she was heading exactly; she just knew she had to get out of that room. It had suddenly become too much for her, so she was doing what she did best – she was running. She pushed the main doors open quickly and sat down on the steps, as she tried to calm down. She was furious with herself when she realized that she'd unknowingly fallen in love with her best friend, her _gay_ best friend. She thought back to all the times he had held her when she was upset, how comfortable she felt in his arms, how intimate they behaved with each other, how Mr. Schuester had believed them to be a couple when they'd first spoken, it all made sense now. Rachel placed her head in her hands and took a deep breath as she desperately tried to figure out what to do next.

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><p><strong>Coming up: Rachel runs into an old friend and Blaine and Rachel struggle to decide on what to do next - oh and Amy's back!<strong>


	9. Bottle it Up

**Hey guys, sorry for the huge delay in getting this chapter up. It's been pretty hectic around here recently, but I finally got around to finishing this chapter, and good news, I've planned this out to the end now, so I know how this is going to end :) I also thought that I'd post this after finding out the brilliant news that Raine are going to be leads in WSS, I've been wanting this since they announced they were going to do this play at the beginning of the season. So hopefully this means more Raine scenes and duets. Bring. It. On. And did you guys see the learren pictures on Tumblr, how cute are they together?**

**Okay I'm rambling now, but one more thing. This has received over 100 alerts since I first posted this, seriously guys you have no idea how happy that makes me, I value each and everyone of them, and it's also had 50 reviews, which is lovely, especially as my last Raine story had 43 reviews after 23 chapters, so seriously guys, it really means a lot to me.**

**Anyway, on with the story :)**

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><p>Rachel shivered in the cold December air, she wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting on these steps, she'd been too busy trying to pinpoint the moment that she'd fallen in love with Blaine. The most worrying part for her was that she couldn't, there was not one moment that she could think of, thinking about it, she was pretty sure that she'd always been in love with him only she'd been too blind to see it, and that terrified her more than anything else.<p>

"Rachel?" Rachel lifted her head and stared at the tall figure in front of her, as a small smile spread across her face.

"Fuck, it really is you!" She jumped up with delight and hugged him tightly, all the tension that she'd been holding onto, disappearing in an instant.

"Noah, it's so good to see you again," she grinned, resting her head on his shoulder, "I didn't think you were going to show!"

He laughed and patted her back as Rachel pulled away and stared up at him.

"Same could be said about you. You've been MIA for the last six years," Rachel pursed her lips and nodded as Puck sat down on the steps and pulled Rachel down beside him.

"So why are you so late?" she asked him,

"I had a coaching meeting earlier, I wasn't going to come, I see Schue everyday anyway, but Finn convinced me to come. Pretty glad I did now though, who'd have thought that I'd be seeing you again?" he laughed and Rachel leant against him, shivering slightly. Puck swiftly removed his jacket and draped it across her shoulders.

"Thank you," Rachel smiled as she moved closer to him, "So I hear you're back in Lima permanently now?" he nodded and tightened his grip around her.

"Yeah, it's not that bad really. I've got a pretty good thing going here, and the pay isn't so bad either. Schue is trying to get me to help with coaching Glee though, they haven't won anything since we graduated."

"Well, we were amazing!" Rachel giggled, "Blaine and I were talking to him inside, he seemed disappointed to say the least."

"What do you mean?" Puck asked, Rachel sighed and sat up, staring at him directly.

"He didn't seem to approve that my dreams from high school had taken a back seat," When Puck gave her a confused expression, she sighed and fumbled in her purse looking for her phone, "Although I live in New York, I never actually made it to Broadway, I'm a mum Noah." "Shit really?" he asked, running a hand over his head. Rachel smiled and handed him her cell phone to show her a picture of Amy taken at her fifth birthday party.

"She looks just like you Rach," he smiled, as he handed her phone back, "So how long have you been in New York?"

"Since graduation," Rachel explained, "I found out I was pregnant, I needed to get out of Lima, so Shelby offered to let me stay with her and Beth, so I took it." She realized what she'd said when she felt Puck's body tense next to hers, "Oh, I'm sorry Noah, I forgot." He shook his head and smiled at her.

"It's okay, I kind of accepted that I'd never see her again, especially after the way Quinn broke down Senior Year." He shrugged, "Still, it doesn't stop me thinking about her." Rachel nodded and scrolled through her phone, before smiling and handing it back to him.

"Here," she smiled, "This was taken a few weeks ago." He stared at the phone and Rachel could hear as his breath caught in his throat. "I'll get a copy printed for you if you'd like?" They were both silent for the next couple of minutes as Puck tried to take in every detail of the image in front of him.

"She's beautiful," he finally said, handing the phone back to Rachel.

"She's just like you," Rachel commented, "It's quite scary sometimes."

"She's okay though?" He asked.

"She's perfect Noah, you'd be so proud of her. Amy loves her." Puck nodded quietly and Rachel let out a quiet sigh and gently placed her hand on her arm.

"Maybe I could convince Shelby to let you see her again?" Rachel suggested,

"I don't know Rachel," he shrugged.

"Just think about it Noah," she smiled, "Maybe you could visit Amy and me in New York, she'd love to meet some of my old friends. You have no idea how close she and Blaine are, and her reaction to Kurt was priceless." She smiled.

"She sounds quite the character," he laughed when Rachel nodded her head in agreement, "Just like her mum."

Rachel blushed as he nudged her arm with his own.

"I'll think about it though," he told her earnestly, "Come on, let's head in. It's freezing out here!" He laughed as he stood up and pulled Rachel to her feet.

"It really is good to see you again Noah," she said quietly.

"You to Rach." He grinned as he pulled her into a tight hug. Rachel smiled happily as she rested her head on his shoulder, though she couldn't help feeling that something was missing. She didn't feel the usual comfort that and security that she'd been so used to feeling every time she hugged Blaine. She smiled and pulled away as Puck guided her back towards the building.

"I'm right aren't I?" Kurt smirked, pulling Blaine from his thoughts; he shrugged and downed the rest of his drink, trying to ignore Kurt's probing.

"Right about what?" Finn asked, as he joined them at the table, Mike, Sam and Artie following closely behind. Blaine's eyes widened as he stared at Kurt, urging him not to say anything, but Kurt had never been a discrete person and Blaine had been stupid to think otherwise.

"Blaine's in love," Kurt sang in his usual high pitched tone, Blaine rolled his eyes and placed his head into his hands, as the guys in front of him grinned.

"Who's the guy?" Sam asked, as he started scanning the room, "Do we know him?"

Mike and Artie followed his lead as they to began scanning the room for Blaine's possible love interest, Finn stared between Blaine and Kurt for a couple of seconds before a look of realization spread across his face.

"Dude, it's Rachel isn't it?" he said loudly, Blaine's head shot up and he glared at Finn, as Kurt tried to silence his step brother as Sam, Mike and Artie stared at Finn and shook their heads in disbelief.

"Uh, dude. Rachel's a girl," Sam stated, "That's not really, I mean, you know, she's a girl!"

"I know that!" Finn protested, "Seriously dude, is it Rachel?" Kurt smirked knowingly and stared at Blaine, waiting for him to give a response. He didn't, he just cursed himself for being so damn obvious to the people around him, when he'd been so oblivious of his own feelings.

"Okay, here's the thing. Blaine is in love with Rachel. But he won't tell her because he thinks it's too complicated." Kurt explained, "As I've tried telling him, he's a former member of New Directions, we can't do anything without some complications."

"Dude, why don't you tell her?" Sam asked,

"Is it because of the history between Rachel and me?" Finn asked,

"What? No of course not!" Blaine snapped,

"Because I'm totally cool with it," Finn shrugged, "Have I told you guys that I'm going to be a dad in few weeks?" Mike and Sam rolled her eyes and Artie shook his head, trying to hide his laughter behind a cough.

"Dude, it's all you've been talking about," Mike laughed, "But seriously, back to Blaine. What's stopping you from telling her the truth? You two always did seem weirdly close for two friends." Blaine arched his eyebrow and stared him, before glancing back at Kurt who was smirking at him.

"Okay seriously, did you all think that something was going between Rachel and me, back in school?" the four guys in front of him shifted in their seats and Artie nodded slowly.

"Why didn't you guys say anything?" Blaine hissed, placing his head on the table.

"We thought you knew!" Mike laughed,

"That and we didn't want to cause yet another argument in camp Finchel," Artie glanced at Finn who frowned at him, "Sorry dude."

"I can't believe you guys," Blaine groaned.

"Hey, don't blame us. You were like a lost puppy when she left at the end of senior year," Sam shrugged, "So, why don't you tell her, you've been spending a lot of time with her right, and I'm guessing she's single?" Blaine nodded.

"Dude, you really need to tell her." Sam shrugged as he picked up his drink from the table. Blaine groaned quietly, he knew that they were right, Rachel did have a right to know, then if she didn't feel the same they could draw a line under the whole thing and hopefully keep their friendship as strong as ever. He hoped. He just had to work up the courage to actually tell her. All this time, he'd been her rock, supporting her when she needed it, now he was going to be the ond to bare all, and it was a scary thought.

"Hey you!" Quinn grinned as she and the other girls walked over to the join the guys at their table, Quinn sliding on top of Finn to rest her feet, "What are you guys talking about?" Blaine stared at the guys and shook his head discreetly, hoping more than ever that they'd respect the bro code or whatever the hell it was, and would keep his secret to themselves.

"Oh just stuff," Finn shrugged, Blaine silently thanked him and scanned the group of girls in front of him, pausing when he realized that Rachel was no where to be found.

"Hey, where's Rachel?" he asked, the girls exchanged glances and shrugged.

"We were talking, then she said something about needing some air, that was about twenty minutes ago," Mercedes explained, Blaine nodded and pushed his chair away from the table and stood up quickly.

"Where are you going?" Kurt asked,

"I've got to go," he almost shouted as he pushed his way through the gym and headed down the deserted corridors looking for Rachel.

He knew that it had been to good to be true when she had separated herself from him, he should've known that tonight was going to be tough for her. He knew how much she would've been struggling with everything, but he thought that she was dealing well with everything, so he'd left her to talk with the girls, not wanting it to seem like he was over crowding her. So why he was too busy trying to work out his feelings about her, Rachel was probably freaking out about something much more important. He was such an idiot. He pushed the main doors with a force that surprised him as he stepped outside, coming to an abrupt halt when he noticed Rachel in a tight embrace with what looked like Noah Puckerman. He felt his chest tighten as he stared at them both and sighed quietly, they pulled away and Blaine could see how happy she was with Puck. He remembered clearly their checkered history, if Rachel wasn't in a relationship with Finn, then chances were she was involved with Puck in some way. He suddenly realized that Puck was sort of guy that Rachel was likely to embark on a relationship with, if she was ready for that kind of thing. Blaine was the guy destined to forever be the best friend.

"Rachel?" he said quietly as he cleared his throat, making his presence known, Rachel blinked and smiled when Blaine stepped forward, "Mercedes said you needed some air," he paused and glanced from Rachel to Puck, "Are you okay." Rachel's smiled faltered briefly she nodded and smiled properly at him.

"Yes, I'm fine," she grinned, "But look who I ran into," Blaine could feel the happiness radiating from her, he couldn't not smile with her, although he felt like his insides were being torn to pieces, "We were just heading inside, it's freezing out here!" Blaine nodded and shifted awkwardly as he followed Puck and Rachel inside. When he walked back into the gym, Rachel and Puck made their way to the table where the former members of New Directions were gathered. He could feel Kurt's eyes burning into him and he tried to blend into the background, suddenly not so keen on talking to anyone.

"Did you talk to her?" Kurt whispered as he subtlety moved from the table and joined Blaine. Blaine shook his head, but kept his eyes firmly on Rachel who was now seated in between Puck and Quinn.

"Why not!" Kurt hissed, Blaine quickly turned to face him and stared at him,

"Look how happy she is with him" he sighed, "I can't compete with that."

"Oh come on Blaine, she hasn't seen him for years, of course she's going to be happy to see him again," Blaine shrugged, knowing deep down that Kurt had a point. But he'd been Rachel's rock for so long now that he wasn't sure if he ready to let her go.

The party finished a few hours later and Rachel promised to make an effort to keep in touch with everyone again, particularly Quinn and Noah – Quinn for baby advice that she was willing to share, and Noah because he had always been such an important part of her life. She thought it would be silly to lose him again now. Rachel and Blaine said their goodbyes, Blaine's chest tightening as she hugged Puck before joining Blaine at the car and setting off home. The journey home was pretty quiet, Blaine deep in his own thoughts as he concentrated on road in front of him, Rachel sitting contently next to him, a happier person than the one she'd been on the journey over to McKinley.

Rachel unlocked the front door and the two of them crept inside, aware that her father's and Amy were all in bed now so they did their best to stay quiet.

"Coffee?" she asked, he nodded and the pair of them walked into the kitchen. Blaine sat down at the table as Rachel scurried around the kitchen collecting mugs and preparing their drinks. Blaine meanwhile sat staring at her, noticing things about her that he'd never considered before, the way she furrowed her brow when she was thinking, the way her hair brushed against her shoulders as she moved. He'd been so blind not to notice any of this before, and now he'd probably missed his chance.

"Hey, are you okay?" Rachel asked, leaning against the counter as she waited for the coffee to brew. Blaine blinked and stared at her, she smiled and shook her head.

"You've been quiet for a while now, you sure you're okay?" she asked him again,

"Yeah, I'm fine," he shrugged, pausing as the two of them heard footsteps from the stairs, they stared intently at the doorway for a few seconds before Amy came running through, grinning at them both.

"You're home!" she grinned as she ran across the room, Blaine laughed and picked her up and sat her on his lap as Rachel rolled her eyes and finished making their coffee.

"Amy Berry, shouldn't you be in bed?" Blaine grinned, Amy giggled and shook her head.

"I couldn't sleep, then I heard you and mummy come home," she grinned, "Please can I stay up?"

"Well, we'll have to see what your mummy says," Blaine laughed, as he glanced over at Rachel who was just staring at them both. She sighed as Amy gave her mum her best puppy dog eyes, an act that had been perfected after spending so much time with Blaine.

"Fine, but only until we've finished our drinks," Rachel sighed, smiling as her daughter grinned and high fived Blaine.

"Honestly, it's like I've got two children," she grinned as she opened the cupboard at the back of the kitchen and found her dad's secret stash of hot chocolate, "Don't tell your grandpa Ames," Amy giggled as Blaine pretended to zip her mouth closed, before Rachel put the finishing touches to their drinks.

Rachel glanced across at Blaine and Amy, she knew that Amy was still tired, she was constantly yawning as she sat in Blaine's lap, but she didn't have the heart to send her back to bed just yet, but she figured that the hot chocolate would be enough to calm her down and send her back into a peaceful sleep. So as Blaine scooped Amy up into his arms and carried her into the lounge, Rachel placed their drinks onto a tray and followed closely behind. Blaine sat down on the couch and Amy curled up in his lap, resting her head on his chest. Rachel smiled at them both as she placed the tray on the table and sat down opposite them.

"Ames, do you want your hot chocolate?" Blaine asked quietly, Amy lifted her head sleepily and nodded as Blaine leant forward and picked up the smaller mug and carefully handed it to the little girl.

"Thank you," she yawned quietly, Blaine and Rachel chuckled before reaching forward and picking up their own drinks.

"I had a really good time tonight," Rachel commented, "Thank you,"

"What did I do," Blaine shrugged, carefully as not to disturb Amy.

"More than you'll probably ever know," Rachel smiled, "But seriously, if it wasn't for you then I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have gotten in touch with all of my old friends."

"That's true," Blaine nodded, "You and Puck looked pretty close tonight," he cursed himself as soon as the words had left his lips, but it was too late to take it back now. Rachel sipped at her coffee and shrugged.

"Noah always meant a lot to me," she shrugged, "We spent most of the time talking about Beth, I'm going to try and convince Shelby to give him another chance."

"Do you think she will?" Blaine asked,

"I don't know, I'd like to hope so though." Rachel sighed, glancing at Amy who was now yawning into her mug, she gestured quietly at Blaine, who glanced down at the half asleep child, smiled fondly and placed her mug on the table. Amy let out a quiet moan and wrapped her arms tightly around Blaine and nestled her head against his chest. Blaine smiled at her before lifting his head to face a now beaming Rachel.

"You and Quinn seemed to have a lot to talk about," Blaine commented,

"You know it's weird, but there's not and rivalry between us anymore. It's funny, I think we could've actually been friends in high school if we hadn't let such trivial things come between us." She nodded.

"Finn?" Blaine smirked, Rachel giggled and nodded.

"I was young and naïve," Rachel shrugged, "But yes, I suppose that was part of the problem. Can you believe she actually apologized to me tonight?"

"Wow, people really do change," Blaine chuckled, as he placed his mug back onto the table, moving awkwardly desperate not to disturb Amy, she clung to him tighter when he back against the couch.

"Maybe, I'll take her up to bed?" Rachel suggested, getting up out of her seat, and holding her arms open. Blaine shook his head and smiled.

"It's okay, I'll carry her. You lead the way," Rachel nodded, before quickly collecting their mugs and carrying them into the kitchen, making a mental note to clean them in the morning. She quickly turned on her heel and walked back into the lounge to find Blaine stood waiting for her, Amy resting her head on his shoulder and her arms wrapped tightly around him.

"Ready?" she smiled. Blaine nodded and followed Rachel out of the lounge and towards the stairs, taking care not to trip as he slowly tackled the steps. Rachel walked on ahead and flicked the light on in Amy's room and remade her bed. Blaine followed minutes later and gently placed Amy onto the bed as Rachel tucked her in. Amy rolled over and hugged her favourite teddy bear. Rachel smiled and leant against Blaine, as she watched her daughter sleep. They stood there for a couple of minutes before Rachel yawned quietly.

"You should go to bed," he told her, Rachel blushed and nodded, as she leant down to give a final kiss goodnight and walking out of the bedroom with Blaine following behind her. They walked across the landing to Rachel's bedroom, where they both paused awkwardly.

"I really appreciate how good you are with Amy," Rachel said quietly, Blaine shrugged and placed his arm across her shoulders, "She really likes you, you know?" she turned around to face him properly, her eyes locking with his. He gulped quietly as she stepped forward, their faces inches apart, before she reached out and placed her arms around him and pulled her closer towards her. "I really like you to," she whispered, Blaine smiled as he held her firmly against his body. After a couple of seconds Rachel awkwardly stepped backward and Blaine released his on her, but the distance between them remained the same. Her eyes were still locked on his, searching for something, but Blaine wasn't sure what. Then Rachel took a step forward and cupped his face before placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. When she pulled away, Blaine glanced at her and her eyes had widened as she stepped back towards her door.

"Goodnight Blaine," she said quietly, as she walked into her room. Blaine watched after her as she closed the door, before slowly moving his hand to his cheek where only seconds before her lips had been.

"Goodnight Rachel."

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><p><strong>Coming up: Blaine and Rachel head back to NY, Blaine struggles to deal with his new feelings for Rachel, and the holidays are coming up.<strong>


	10. I Really Miss You

**Hey guys, I finally finished this chapter! I don't know why, but this is getting harder and harder to write for. Whether it's because I'm nearing the end, I don't know? I wouldn't mind, but I've had this story planned since I posted the first chapter. I know - I really tried to be organised with this story, I'm not sure if it's working though.**

**As always, I really appreciate you guys reading, alerting and reviewing. You have no idea how much it means to me to see a new alert/review pop up in my inbox. I've already reached over 10,000 hits on this. It's unbelievable, you guys are awesome!**

**Yes, the end is near - I can't believe how far we've come, but there is still about 2/3 chapters left, plus an epilogue. Yes, I'm actually going to do an epilogue for this story. Again, it's been planned since chapter one.**

**Enough with the long AN, as always hope you enjoy. Please keep the review coming :)**

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><p>Blaine and Rachel had been back in New York for a couple of weeks now, and had quickly settled back into their day-to-day routine. Only this time Blaine had tried to distance himself from Rachel as he desperately struggled with his rapidly developing feelings for her. Of course, it was easier said than done as he taught her daughter, but their interactions outside of school had been cut down considerably. He knew that avoiding her like this would be probably causing more harm than good to their friendship, but he was really struggling to think straight – no pun included. He honestly thought that by giving her some space, he'd learn how to control his feelings and would eventually get over what he was deeming as a childish crush. So far it was proving to be easier said than done.<p>

Rachel, meanwhile, had remained true to her word and had been in contact with Quinn and Puck on more than one occasion, Quinn had given birth to baby Daniel days after Rachel had returned to New York, and found that talking to Rachel about her concerns was much easier than talking to Finn. With Rachel, at least she knew what she was going through, their conversations generally ended up being about Rachel and her ever-growing feelings for Blaine though. At first Rachel had denied everything, but she'd forgotten what it was like to have a female friend and how persistent they could be, and Quinn had told her more than once that Rachel was her only source to the outside world, whilst she was busy playing mum and Finn was busy at work. Rachel had profoundly refused to act upon her feelings, terrified of losing Blaine again. She'd also felt Blaine pulling away from her, and by throwing her feelings into the mix, she was scared that she'd push him over the edge and that would be it between them. She'd lost him once before, she wasn't prepared to lose him again.

"Do you think Mr. Blaine will like his present mummy?" Amy asked as they walked to school on the last day before the holidays. It had been snowing for the last couple of days and Amy was making the most of it, running off in front of Rachel in her bright pink wellington boots with matching hat and gloves, and throwing snowballs in front of them. "I think Ella will like her ball, do you think Mr. Blaine will let us take her to park to play with it?"

"I don't know sweetheart," Rachel smiled, "But I'm sure that he'll love his present because it's from you." Amy nodded, content with Rachel's answer, before running off in front again, pausing as they reached the school gates, and she was surrounded by the bigger kids. Although Rachel and Amy didn't celebrate Christmas, Rachel knew that it had always been one of Blaine's favourite holidays, so she decided to buy him a gift to let him know that she would be thinking of him over the holidays when he was away spending it with his family.

"Come on Mummy!" Amy shouted as Rachel caught up with her, "I want to give Mr. Blaine his present before school starts," Rachel giggled quietly as she clasped her daughter's cold hand and they walked into the school building. Once inside, Amy quickly removed her coat and jumped up to hang it on her hanger, she had grown in the last couple of months and had taken great joy in showing both Blaine and Rachel that she could reach it now without having to ask for help. She still had a habit of dropping her hat and gloves on the floor though, causing Rachel to smile as she bent down to pick them up.

"Mr. Blaine!" Amy shouted happily, "We brought you a Christmas present!" Rachel stood up and quickly placed Amy's things into her bag before walking over to join Amy and Blaine.

"I didn't think you celebrated Christmas?" Blaine smiled as Amy took the gift bag out of Rachel's hands.

"We don't," Rachel shrugged, "But that doesn't mean we can't help you to," Blaine smiled at Rachel as Amy held the bag out to Blaine.

"You can't open it yet though," Amy stated as she placed her hands on her hips, "Mummy says you have to wait until Christmas day." Blaine chuckled and nodded as Molly appeared the doorway, smiling at the three of them. She too had become closer to Amy and Rachel thanks to Blaine.

"Molly!" Amy grinned as she ran over to hug her,

"Morning Ames," Molly smiled, placing her hand on the little girl's shoulder, she glanced over at Blaine and Rachel who were stood awkwardly, she rolled her eyes, their strange behavior had stunned her since they had returned from New York. Blaine hadn't said anything to her of course, but Molly was certain that there was something had happened between them.

"Why don't we go inside, and leave mummy and Mr. Anderson to talk?" Molly smiled, Amy nodded and turned to wave to Rachel quickly before following Molly into the already noisy classroom. Blaine and Rachel stood quietly for a couple seconds, Blaine shuffled his feet and swung the bag slightly in his hand, he lifted his eyes and smiled at Rachel.

"Thanks for this by the way, you didn't have to." Rachel smiled and shrugged as she sat down on the bench that was resting against the wall and Blaine joined her.

"It's nothing much, Beth was making Christmas cards last week, and Amy insisted on making one for you," Rachel smiled, pulling out a hand made, extremely glittery Christmas card and passing it to Blaine. "Then she decided that she wanted to get you and Ella a present."

"You bought a present for a dog!" Blaine scoffed, and Rachel rolled her eyes.

"She's five Blaine!" Rachel laughed, "But like I said, it's nothing much. Just a gesture really for the two of you," Blaine smiled and rested his head against the wall deep in thought. Rachel sighed quietly and stared at him. She hadn't felt this awkward with him since they had met up again, and that had been for completely different reasons. She missed her best friend, yet there he was sitting right next to her.

"So, you're leaving tomorrow right?" Rachel asked, breaking the silence, Blaine lifted his head from the wall and turned to face her, nodding slightly.

"Yeah, I'm spending Christmas with the family, then I'm heading over to Lima for New Years," he explained. Rachel nodded and bit her lip, cursing herself for feeling so nervous about something so innocent.

"So, I was wondering whether you wanted to have dinner with us tonight?" Rachel asked, "I mean, we won't be seeing you for a while, and I'm sure Amy is going to miss you." _I'm going to miss you_, she bit her lip again to prevent spilling out any more words in front of him.

"You know, I'd love to." Blaine started, and Rachel smiled happily at him, but Blaine placed his hand on top of hers and sighed, "But I haven't packed yet," Rachel nodded and smiled back at him, trying to hide her disappointment. They remained like this for a few minutes, Blaine's hand still resting on top of hers, this was as close as they'd been since New York, and Rachel had missed the contact. They were soon distracted from their individual thoughts by a scream coming from Blaine's classroom, seconds later Molly appeared in the doorway. "Sorry to interrupt," she smiled, noticing their clasped hands, "But I could really use your help in here,"

"I'll be there in a minute," Blaine nodded, Rachel removed her hand from Blaine's and got to her feet.

"It's okay, I was going anyway." Blaine frowned as Molly nodded and returned to the classroom, Rachel sighed and turned to walk away, now Blaine felt guilty.

"Rachel, wait – " he sighed, Rachel paused and turned around slowly to face him again, he opened his mouth to speak but wasn't sure what to say to her, he silently cursed himself, he was single handedly ruining their friendship and he hadn't even said anything to her yet. Rachel smiled and took pity on him, stepping forward and hugging him tightly

"Merry Christmas Blaine," she whispered, "We'll see you when you come back." Blaine nodded and continued to hold her as she felt her breath brush against his skin sending shivers down his spine, he inhaled deeply taking in the familiar scent of her shampoo, his chest tightened again and she slowly pulled away, giving him a shy smile, before she turned on her heel to leave the school building. He watched her leave and sighed loudly. Yeah, he _really _needed this vacation.

Christmas was uneventful for the pair; Hiram and Leroy joined Rachel and Amy as they did at the end of every December, before enjoying Shelby's New Year's party. Blaine however wasn't much company, despite his mother trying to get him involved with the rest of family. It was an Anderson tradition, they avoided each other for the majority of the year, then met up at Christmas and put a front on pretending that everything was okay and that they were the image of the perfect family, it couldn't have been further from the truth, it had been like that for as long as Blaine could remember, and sadly he didn't see that tradition ending anytime soon. By the time New Year's rolled around, both Rachel and Blaine were depressed, no matter how many times the people around them tried to cheer them up.

"So how was your Christmas?" Kurt asked as they walked into Finn and Quinn's house where the former members of New Directions had gathered. Blaine shrugged not really wanting to go into the details, as Kurt guided them into the kitchen.

"That bad huh?" Blaine nodded and poured himself a large drink and downed it in one swift movement.

"You?" Blaine asked, placing his now empty glass back onto the kitchen counter.

"Oh you know, the usual." Kurt shrugged, "Only this Christmas we had Carole cooing over Daniel, she's really taken to being a grandmother, dad seemed to be getting into the swing of things as well." He paused and glanced around him, "I know it's stupid, but I'm all babied out," Blaine stared at his friend and for the first time over the winter holidays started laughing. The evening continued and Blaine found himself easing up slightly, enjoying the company of his friends and the amount of alcohol that was available was also helping him, but he was still not being able to ignore the Rachel shaped hole in the room. It didn't help that Santana and Sam were still grilling on him on his relationship status with Rachel, who knew that they'd be so interested? So whilst everyone else was dancing in the lounge, Blaine was hiding away in Quinn's kitchen.

"Dude, you okay?" he turned around quickly, recognizing the familiar voice of Puck. He nodded and forced out a smile.

"So Sam and Mike told me," Puck shrugged, jumping up to sit on the counter, Blaine's eyes widened as he stared at Puck. Despite the Rachel thing, Puck had always intimidated him, he had a feeling it was probably the height thing, and the stories that Kurt had told him when they'd first met, and well they tend to stick with a guy.

"Oh," was all Blaine could manage to say, Puck smirked and stared at him.

"So have you told her yet?" Blaine frowned and tried to meet his eyes as she slowly shook his head, "Dude, you need to work on that,"

"Why does everybody keep telling me that?" Blaine asked in an exasperated tone, "It's just a stupid crush!"

"Is it really?" Blaine paused, not used to hearing Puck to talk to him like this, "Look, I don't usually deal with all of this emotional crap, but I get it."

Blaine opened his mouth to retort, but he knew it was pointless, Puck was a lot of things, but he was mostly always right. Granted they had never actually been the closest of friends, but Blaine knew that Puck had always cared about Rachel, so by default that had made him pretty okay in his book.

"I don't know what to do," Blaine sighed, "I just miss her so much."

"Rachel was always important to me, I guess you could say that she was the one who got away. It was never our time, what with the whole Finn issue," Puck started, Blaine sighed quietly and dropped his head, "But with you, there was always something different about her she was when she was with you, she was happier."

"Was I really that oblivious in high school?" Blaine finally asked, Puck shrugged and his usual cocky smirk returned to his face.

"Dude, you two were harder to separate than Schue and his sweater vests, when she left you broke down. You have no idea how many times Hummel came crying to me when you wouldn't open up to him." Blaine frowned at Puck, wondering when Kurt and Puck had ever really spoken, as far as he was aware they had never been that close.

"Yeah," Puck nodded, "It was awkward for me as well, but apparently I was the only other person who Rachel was closest to. Finn had his own issues back than, but I think he knew then about how you really felt about her," the kitchen fell silent again, the music drifting in from the lounge. Blaine stood frozen to the spot, and Puck felt considerably awkward, never really being the one to submit to his emotions and comfort those that needed it. But he could tell that his words had really hit home to Blaine.

"Can I ask you something?" Blaine asked quietly, Puck shrugged Blaine took a deep breath and stepped forward, "Why the hell didn't any of you tell me this before?" Puck laughed and jumped down from the kitchen counter, patting Blaine's back.

"You wouldn't have listened anyway," he laughed, as he walked across the kitchen and picked up a bottle of beer from the counter. He removed the lid and took a mouthful, before turning to walk back into the lounge. "It's almost midnight, I wonder if Satan is drunk enough to lay one on me when the ball drops?" He paused in the doorway and glanced back at Blaine who was still stood on the spot. "But seriously dude, talk to her." Blaine nodded slowly, his mouth open slightly, as if preparing to say something else. His phone started ringing from his trouser pocket, and he quickly fished it out, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw Rachel's name flash across the screen.

"That's her isn't it?" Puck smirked. Blaine smirked and held the phone up for Puck to see, "That figures, well now's your chance." He glanced once more at Blaine before leaving him alone once more.

"Rachel, hey!" Blaine said, clicking answer and trying to sound more confident than he was actually feeling.

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><p>Rachel wasn't exactly the life and soul of the party either. Not that she usually was, but she had been known to break out Broadway showstoppers when Shelby connected up her karaoke machine, and sing along with Amy in tow. But tonight she was different, despite being surrounded by her family, she felt like something was different. She tried to keep a happy face, if only to assure Amy that she was enjoying herself. For a five year old child, she could be very observant. She sighed quietly and poured herself a large glass of wine before walking back into the lounge and slumping onto the couch.<p>

"Is Mr. Blaine coming mummy?" Amy asked, climbing next to Rachel. Rachel blinked and placed her glass on the table next to her and smiled back at her daughter.

"Not tonight Ames," she noticed the frown on Amy's face and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her into her lap, "He's gone to another party."

"Does he not like us anymore?" Amy asked quietly, Rachel carefully began running her fingers through Amy's soft brown hair, trying to comfort her.

"Of course he does," Rachel smiled, "Why did you ask that?" Amy sighed quietly and shifted around to look up at Rachel.

"I miss Mr. Blaine," she said quietly, Rachel nodded and kissed Amy's forehead gently.

"I miss him to, Ames," Rachel sighed quietly, holding Amy close to her and resting her own head against hers. She suddenly felt the couch dip next to her, she frowned and lifted her head, spotting her father's sitting either side of her. Hiram grinned at him and passed her Shelby's phone.

"Call him," he stated, Amy sat up and stared at Rachel eagerly.

"Who?" Rachel asked, feigning ignorance.

"Blaine," Leroy grinned, "We know you're both missing him."

"Can we mummy, please?" Amy asked, her mood lightening immediately.

"He's at Quinn's party," Rachel stated, shaking her head.

"Rachel, it's almost midnight, call him and wish him a happy new year." Hiram ordered, thrusting the phone into Amy's eager hands. Amy giggled and jumped down from Rachel's lap and started tugging at Rachel's hands, excitedly pulling her towards the kitchen. Hiram and Leroy laughed loudly as Rachel followed Amy.

Amy giggled loudly as Rachel picked her up and sat her on the counter, before she dialed Blaine's number, she put it on loudspeaker and handed it back to Amy, it rang a few times, and Rachel's heart sank, believing that he really was to busy enjoying himself with their friends from Lima to think of her. Then he answered.

"Rachel, hey!" Amy's eye's sparkled, and it touched Rachel to see just how much this man meant to her daughter.

"Mr. Blaine, when are you coming home?" Amy asked.

"Amy?" Blaine started, "Does your mummy know you're calling me?" Rachel rolled her eyes at his concerned.

"I'm here Blaine, we've got you on loudspeaker," she smiled.

"So, when are you coming home?" Amy demanded.

"I'll be home in a couple of days," Blaine chuckled, "Are you having fun at your grandma's party."

"Yeah, Beth has been showing me what she learned at her dance class," Amy explained, "Grandpa said I'm really good."

"I'm sure you are, I can't wait to see it," Blaine chuckled again, Rachel smiled and leant against the counter, watching as Amy spoke animatedly with Blaine, informing her of what she'd been up to over the holidays, and yet again Rachel was incredibly grateful to Blaine for humouring her daughter.

"Amy, sweetie. The fireworks are going to start in a minute, do you want to come and watch them?" Shelby shouted through to the kitchen, Amy grinned and practically threw the phone at Rachel as she clambered from the counter and shouted a hasty goodbye to Blaine before scurrying into the lounge. Rachel laughed quietly and switched off the loudspeaker and placed the phone to her ear.

"Sorry about that," she smiled, "Apparently the fireworks are too good to miss,"

"Yeah, Finn and Sam are setting ours up outside now," Blaine commented, there was pause as the two of them waited for the other to speak, Blaine took a deep breath before taking the plunge.

"So how have you been?"

"Did you have a good Christmas?" Rachel let out a nervous laugh as she heard Blaine speak over her, Blaine chuckled lightly and Rachel realized just how much she'd missed his laugh, up until now she'd had no idea what it did to her.

"Oh, you know what my family are like," Blaine sighed, there was a pause again and Blaine rubbed a hand through his hair in frustration, he couldn't remember ever having this much trouble with words before. His mind flicked back to the end of his junior year when he'd told Kurt that he loved him, it was so easy, it just slipped out. But this was a bigger deal, this could change everything.

"Dude, we're almost ready, you coming?" Puck shouted, poking his head through the kitchen door, Blaine nodded and blindly followed him out into the garden, joining everyone else on the grass.

"So how's the party going?" Rachel asked,

"Yeah, everyone's here," Blaine grinned, they all turned to face him and he smiled holding the phone up in the air.

"Happy new year Rachel!" they shouted, Rachel giggled as she heard the countdown starting the other room.

"FIVE!" Puck and Kurt stared at Blaine, urging him to tell Rachel the truth, he bit his lip and nodded.

"Listen Rachel, there's something I need to tell you, it's kind of important," he started, Puck and Kurt smirked at him and turned back to watch Finn and Sam put the finishing touches to the display.

"FOUR!"

"What is it? Is everything okay?" Rachel asked, the volume in the other room getting considerably louder, she quickly jumped down from the counter and slammed the door shut.

"THREE!"

"Yeah everything's fine Rachel. I just…I miss you so much!"

"TWO!"

"I miss you to," Rachel smiled, her heart beating fast against her chest

"ONE!"

"I love you Rachel,"

"I love you Blaine!"

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

"I'm sorry your call has been disconnected due to a high usage at this time, please try your again later,"

"Dammit!"

* * *

><p>It was the Saturday before school was supposed to start up again, Blaine had only been back in New York for a day, deciding to stay on at the Hummel's with Kurt and fly back with him, instead of returning on his own and dealing with what had happened at New Years. He hadn't spoken to Rachel since that night, they'd struggled to get a connection after their fist initial call, and Blaine was too embarrassed to call her the next day to see if she'd actually heard anything that he'd said to her. He sighed as he walked through the quiet streets with Ella, he'd decided to take her out for a long walk this morning, since he hadn't been around for a couple of weeks. What he wasn't expecting however was to return home and find Rachel and Amy sat on his doorstep.<p>

"Rachel, what are you doing here?" Blaine asked, fumbling in his pocket for his keys, Rachel shrugged as Amy ran forward started stroking Ella happily.

"We thought we'd come by and see you," she smiled as Blaine unlocked the door and gestured for Amy and Rachel to head on inside. Rachel removed Amy's coat as Blaine unhooked Ella's leash and dog ran off into the kitchen with Amy happily following behind. Rachel chuckled and removed her coat and perched on the edge of Blaine's sofa.

"Coffee?" Blaine asked, Rachel smiled and shook her head politely.

"Can we talk?" she asked, Blaine gulped, so she had heard? Now she was going to try and let him down gently.

"Um sure," he nodded, sitting down beside her, Rachel shifted her body so she was facing him directly, she placed her hands in her lap and stared at them.

"Um, okay. Have I done something to upset you?" she asked quietly, Blaine frowned and stared at her.

"Of course not!" he smiled leaning forward and placing his hands on top of hers, she lifted her head and glanced at him, smiling slightly, "Why did you think that?"

"I don't know," Rachel shrugged as Blaine squeezed her hand gently, "It's just, okay. Since we both returned from Lima, you've been different with me. Almost like you're avoiding me." Now Blaine felt plain guilty. He scooted over and placed his arm around her shoulders.

"You could never upset me Rachel," he smiled, "I guess I just let things get on top of me before the holidays," he paused and stared at her, "But everything's fine now," he told her. Rachel smiled as she turned to hug him, pressing her body closely against his.

"I've missed you," she whispered, _I just wish you knew how much I love you._

"I've missed you to," he said quietly. _I love you more than you'll ever know._

They remained like this for a while, both of them content to stay in this private bubble without having to admit to their feelings aloud. It hurt them both that they'd admitted it once before yet the other was still oblivious to it all. But for now they were just happy to have each other back again.

* * *

><p><strong>Coming up: Puck comes to NY to finally meet Beth (Yay!), he also tries to help Blaine and Rachel, with the added help of Amy and Kurt :)<strong>


	11. Easy Way Out

**Hey guys, I'm still alive! I'm so sorry I haven't updated this in like forever. It's not for lack of trying, but I've just found it really hard to sit down and finish this chapter. Anyway, here it is. I've only got one more chapter left for this story, then the epilogue, which I will be writing for this. Then I'm going to write a sequel, as I've had that idea for some time now as well. So yeah. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up soon, because that's one that I've been looking to writing for some time now.**

**Hope you all enjoy, and leave me a review to let me know that you guys are still reading :)**

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><p>It was the middle of January when Rachel found herself waiting at New York airport for Noah's flight to arrive. After much persuasion, Shelby had finally agreed to allow Puck to see Beth, she hadn't promised yet whether it would turn into a regular thing, but at this stage Puck was willing to take whatever he could get. Things hadn't really progressed between Rachel and Blaine either; they had easily slipped back into the roles of best friends and seemed pretty content with the arrangement. When the passengers started filling the terminal, Rachel smiled as she spotted Puck walking through the main doors, she hurried towards him, as he dropped his case to the floor and hugged her tightly.<p>

"I can't believe you're really here, in New York!" she beamed as she pulled away.

"Yeah well, you can be pretty persuasive," he smirked, he glanced behind her and frowned, "So where's Amy, I thought she'd be with you?"

"I knew I wouldn't be back in time to collect her from school, so Blaine offered to take care of her." She smiled, linking arms with him and leading him towards the taxi rank, "That way you can get settled in without a five year old running around,"

"I could've got a cab myself," Puck shrugged, "I told you, you didn't have to come down here and pick me up,"

"Nonsense!" Rachel laughed, hitting his arm playfully, "I really don't mind, and Amy loves spending time with Blaine. Since she hasn't got a father figure, Blaine's the perfect fit for her."

"Yeah, about that Rachel," Puck started, as the two of them slowed down, Rachel turned to face him and frowned,

"What?" she asked, deadpanned.

"Amy's dad?" he questioned and Rachel shook her head,

"It's not important," she said shaking her head,

"Rachel…" he sighed as she walked off in front to hail a cab, he quickly chased after her and grabbed at her arm, as a yellow cab pulled up beside them. Rachel let out a sigh of relief as Puck threw his case into the trunk of the car and slipped in beside him. She gave the driver her address and sat back in her seat, staring out of the window as they set of.

"I was only asking a question, do I know the guy?"

"No. No you don't." Rachel stated, "It's not something I feel comfortable discussing."

"So you're willing to let Blaine pay happy families when he's not the dad?" Puck continued and Rachel tensed and closed her eyes tightly.

"It's not like that between us Noah," Rachel sighed, opening her eyes and turning to face him, "Now could you please drop it?" she asked, "I'm really happy that you're here, but I can't deal with these questions." Her eyes pleaded with his, and Puck sighed and dropped the subject, not really prepared to start their weekend off like this. Not when she was his only way of connecting with his daughter again.

* * *

><p>Amy and Blaine left the school hand in hand and Amy couldn't have been happier. She thrived on spending time with Blaine, in her mind Blaine was just as much her friend as he was Rachel's friend. She skipped happily at his side as they headed in the direction of the subway. Blaine noticed the smiles that strangers were sending in his direction, watching how he cared for Amy, although he knew that he was nothing more to Amy than her teacher and her mother's friend, he still enjoyed the time that he got to spend with her. He'd never <em>ever<em> thought about having children of his own before. It was usually something that other people had, and he had been okay with that, but after spending the last five months with Rachel and Amy, he was quickly changing his mind.

When they arrived at Blaine's apartment, he chuckled quietly as he watched Amy make herself at home. She jumped up to hang her coat on one of the hooks before skipping off into the kitchen to find Ella. Blaine rolled his eyes and crouched down to pick up her coat again, she still wasn't quite tall enough to reach the hooks properly. He heard Ella bark loudly that was quickly followed with a childish giggle. He smiled and headed into the kitchen himself.

"Whatcha doing Ames?" he grinned, as he opened one of his cupboards and pulled out a mug and a bright pink cup, something that he'd bought for Amy when she and Rachel started visiting his apartment on a regular basis.

"I really like Ella Mr. Blaine," Amy grinned as she straightened up and pulled herself up onto one of the stools in the kitchen and watched as Blaine prepared their drinks.

"I think she likes you to," he smiled, nodding his head in Ella's direction who was desperately trying to get Amy's direction. Amy giggled and stretched out her hand to stroke the dog again. Blaine smiled softly and handed her the cup, now filled with orange juice.

"Thank you," Amy smiled and started sipping quietly as Blaine finished making his coffee. He pulled out the stool and sat opposite her, as she started swinging her legs out under the table. She smiled at him again and sighed quietly. He frowned, and continued to stare at the little girl in front of him.

"You okay Ames?" he asked, she gripped her cup tightly and shrugged. Blaine smiled and pushed his stool back, and walking around the table to her. "Am I going to have to tickle it out of you?" he asked, Amy tried to hide her smile, but was failing miserably but she shook her head regardless. Blaine leant forward and removed Amy's cup from her grasp before turning around to tickle her. Amy shrieked loudly as she wiggled in his arms, Blaine laughed as Ella jumped up around them, obviously wanting to join in with their game.

"Are you going to tell me now?" Blaine asked, raising his voice over her giggles. Amy shook her head and laughed loudly as Blaine picked her up and carried her into the lounge, throwing her onto the couch and dropping down next to her. Amy giggled and crawled onto his lap, landing with a thud. Blaine laughed and turned her around so that Amy was facing him directly.

"Come on Ames, you can tell me." He smiled, Amy lifted her eyes to face him, and Blaine's breath hitched in his throat as he saw Rachel clearly in them. He'd always been aware of the resemblance between Amy and Rachel, but he was so used to it now, it was only during rare moments like these that he was caught off guard but their similarities.

"I don't want mummy's friend to stay with us," she said quietly,

"But Puck is really cool, Ames," Blaine smiled, lifting her chin gently, "I think you'll really like him." She shook her head adamantly and stared at him.

"Why can't you stay with us?" she asked, "I like you, you could come and live with us and then mummy would be happy all the time." Blaine's heart swelled as Amy cuddled against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"Then who would look after Ella?" he smiled,

"She can come to." Amy shrugged against his chest, "I'd like it if you lived with us."

It took all of Blaine's will power not to agree with Amy and tell her that he'd love it to. Instead he just nodded quietly and patted her back gently, as Ella jumped up to join them on the couch. Amy giggled and stretched out to stroke the dog gently. Very briefly Blaine allowed his mind to wonder and imagine what it would be like if Amy's wish was actually a reality and he had admit that it didn't sound like a bad idea at all. The thought of having Rachel meet him after school, and the three of them going home together. Setting up a home together, building a family together. Then he shook his head and remembered that it was just a dream. He sighed quietly and helped Amy to sit up properly to face him.

"I tell you what, why don't we go and get some ice cream for dinner?" Blaine suggested, Amy's grin broke out bigger than before and she nodded eagerly, "Don't tell your mummy though," Blaine added as an after thought, Amy nodded and quickly headed off into the hallway to collect her coat. Blaine laughed and glanced down at Ella who was just staring at him.

"Don't look at me like that," he sighed, as he headed out into the hallway to help Amy with her coat, trying to ignore the judgmental stares from his dog.

* * *

><p>Rachel had busied herself almost immediately when she had arrived home with Puck, she instantly fell into the role of perfect hostess, making sure that he was comfortable and would have everything that he needed. She still felt guilty that he would have to sleep on her couch, but there just simply wasn't enough room in her apartment, there was barely enough space for herself and Amy.<p>

"Rachel, would you please stop fussing!" Puck practically shouted as she scurried through the lounge, she paused on the spot and turned to face him, forcing a smile onto her face. The truth was, she thought that by keeping herself busy it would prevent him from asking any awkward questions again. Sure she'd managed to talk to Blaine about it, but Blaine was…well he was Blaine.

"I'm sorry Noah," she slumped down on the sofa next to him, crossing her legs in front of her as she turned to face him, "I guess I just wanted this weekend to be perfect, I planned to get everything ready before you arrived, but I've been so busy," she rambled and Puck laughed and shook his head.

"Just chill out," he told her, "I've come to visit Beth, not to judge you on how tidy your apartment is," Rachel smiled gratefully and nodded, "Besides, this is a lot cleaner than my place in Lima." Rachel giggled and rested her head on the back of the couch as Puck flicked through the television stations. They remained like this a while, the two of them enjoying each other's company, laughing at some of the pointless shows that the stations were airing. Rachel's front door buzzed loudly and Rachel hopped up from the couch and hurried towards the door.

"Oh, hey Blaine. I'll buzz you up." She pressed the intercom again and glanced through the lounge where Puck had switched off the television and turned around to face her. She left the front door open and walked back into the lounge, standing just behind the couch. Puck smiled at her just as Amy came skipping into the apartment, carrying a bear that was almost as big as she was. Rachel rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling as Blaine poked his head around the door.

"Look what Blaine bought me mummy," Amy grinned, practically pushing the bear into Rachel's face, Rachel laughed and held the bear out at arms length and nodded.

"Wow it's um…it's very big," Rachel smiled, Amy nodded eagerly as Rachel placed the bear onto the floor, "Did you say thank you?"

"Of course she did," Blaine laughed, "We've had a great time together, haven't we Ames?" Blaine smiled as he walked towards Rachel and ruffled Amy's hair. Amy giggled and nodded as she pushed Blaine's hand from her hair.

"Well why don't you go and put your bear in your room, and I'll sort you something to eat,"

"Oh um, we've already eaten," Blaine announced, glancing at Amy quickly, before the little girl dashed off towards her bedroom at the end of the hall.

"Oh okay then," Rachel smiled at Blaine and was completely smitten by him once more, completely forgetting that Puck was sitting just in front of her. "Thanks,"

Blaine could feel her eyes on him, and the heat rushing to his cheeks, he felt ridiculous to be acting like a love struck teenager around her, but when she smiled at him he forgot about everything and just focused purely on her. Her smile had always affected him it was just infectious.

Puck smirked as he watched Blaine and Rachel, neither of them were talking much, but he could tell that they both had so much that they wanted to say. It amused him that they were still dancing around each other, the same way they had been in high school. Yes, he had been close to Rachel, but Blaine seemed to connect with her on a completely different level. They just understood each other so effortlessly. He'd have been blind not to notice the way that Rachel's eyes lit up when Blaine arrived, or the look of total adoration Blaine had for Rachel. Puck cleared his throat loudly and Rachel and Blaine seem to come out of their trance, Rachel blushed slightly as she moved away from Blaine to sit on the chair that was opposite the couch. Blaine meanwhile, smiled at her as he collapsed onto the couch next to Puck, groaning slightly.

"I keep telling you replace this thing, hell I'll even do it for you," he laughed; Rachel rolled her eyes at him.

"And like I keep telling you, my couch is fine." Rachel insisted, grinning at him. Blaine laughed loudly and glanced at Puck.

"Let me guess you're sleeping on here tonight?" Blaine asked, Puck nodded, causing Blaine to hiss loudly and lean across the couch to pat Puck's shoulder, "You're in for a world of pain," he laughed, Rachel laughed quietly and pulled the cushion from behind her and threw it in Blaine's direction. Blaine let out a loud grunt when it made contact with his face and Rachel laughed loudly. He stared at her for a moment and Rachel was unsure what his next move would be, it was only when he jumped to his feet with the cushion that she shrieked loudly and ran to the other side of the room.

"What are you running for Rach," he smirked,

"I don't like the look in your eye," she laughed, edging further away from him, "I have a child in the apartment, can we set an example and behave like appropriate adults?" she reasoned. Blaine scoffed loudly and shook his head.

"Too late for that now, don't you think?" he smirked as he swung the cushion in her direction, Rachel squeaked loudly and tried to get away from him, picking up anything that could be used as a weapon against him. Puck watched in amusement as the two of them continued to chase each other through Rachel's small apartment. They hadn't changed that much, they were always full of energy, especially on those days of early glee rehearsals, long drives to their competitions, it was up to Blaine and Rachel to keep everyone's spirits up. Amy came scurrying into the lounge as she heard Blaine and Rachel laughing loudly, Puck noticed the smile on her face grow wider as Blaine picked her up and used her as a human shield.

"You coward!" Rachel laughed, as Amy stuck her tongue out to her mum, Blaine laughed loudly and high fived Amy.

"That's what you call teamwork Ames," he grinned, placing the little girl back onto the ground, Amy laughed and nodded and clung to Blaine's leg as Rachel threw the cushion at Blaine again.

"Did you see that?" Blaine asked Puck, as he picked Amy up again, "I call foul play!"

"Just remember whose apartment you're staying in for the weekend," Rachel smirked, glancing in Puck's direction.

"Hey, that's not fair," Blaine retorted, "Besides, my couch is a lot comfier than this one is,"

"Yeah, sadly that is true," Rachel laughed, "I say it's a tie?" she suggested holding out a hand to Blaine playfully. Blaine glanced at Amy and grinned.

"What do you think, Ames?" he asked, Amy smiled at Blaine and then at Rachel, before nodding, Blaine clasped Rachel's hand and pulled her closer to him. Rachel laughed and wrapped her arms around him tightly, the two of them practically crushing Amy in the process. Puck smiled and realized that the three of them made a pretty good family, obviously he knew about Blaine's feelings for Rachel. But if he didn't know them, and had just walked past them in the street, then he would have just assumed that they were a perfectly happily family. He knew that they would be happy together, he only had to look at how they interacted with each other to know that, but he just wished that they'd actually get it together soon.

"Come on, let's go and get you ready for bed," Rachel smiled, taking Amy from Blaine's arms, smiling shyly at Blaine and heading out of the lounge and towards Amy's bedroom. Blaine watched her as she walked away, before returning to his seat on the couch. Puck stared at him, and raised an eyebrow slightly.

"What?" Blaine asked.

"Have you said anything to her yet?" Puck questioned, Blaine looked behind him quickly and glared ay Puck.

"Just keep your voice down, yeah?" he hissed.

"Dude, why haven't you said anything yet?"

"It's complicated," Blaine sighed.

"Doesn't look that complicated from where I was sitting," Puck continued, "Just tell her you love her."

"It's not that easy," Blaine sighed.

"I've spent the entire afternoon with Rachel," Puck shrugged, "Her whole attitude changed when you turned up. My guess is she wants you just as much as you want her."

"I'm working on it." Blaine shrugged, although Puck noticed his eye's light up slightly when Puck informed him that Rachel possibly had more than just feelings of friendship towards him, "Besides, it's not just how Rachel and I feel, we've got to take Amy into consideration, it's a lot for a five year old to take in."

"Yeah, okay." Puck scoffed, "You three already look like a family, and the kid already dotes on you."

"Amy," Blaine correctly immediately, although he had no idea why, "Her name is Amy."

"That's not the point," Puck shrugged, "The point is you should be doing something about it, instead of sitting in the friend zone taking the easy way out," Blaine rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to retort when Rachel and Amy walked back into the lounge. Amy had changed into her bright pink pajamas and was wearing glittery slippers on her feet. Blaine smiled fondly at the two of them as she clung tightly to the bear that Blaine had bought for her only hours previously.

"She really likes that bear," Rachel explained, sitting down in her chair again, Amy yawned and climbed up onto Rachel's lap, "So what were you two discussing?" she asked. Puck turned to face Blaine who shook his head adamantly.

"Nothing really, just work stuff, from one teacher to another," Blaine stated, Rachel frowned on him, clearly not believing a word of it.

"Uh huh," she nodded,

"And on that note, I should be going." Blaine announced, standing up. Amy sat upright and frowned.

"Already?" Rachel asked, trying to mask her disappointment, Blaine nodded as Amy climbed down from Rachel's lap and ran over to hug Blaine tightly. Rachel smiled at them both and walked Blaine to the door after he had said goodbye to Puck who was still watching the two of them intently.

"So, I'll pick her up tomorrow morning, about ten?" Blaine asked as he hovered in Rachel's doorway. Rachel nodded as she Amy gripped her hand tightly.

"Are you sure you don't mind Blaine?" Rachel asked quietly, Blaine smiled and bought his hand to her face and turned it to face him gently.

"I've told you before, it's not a problem." He paused and stared at Rachel, before taking a deep breath, "I lo…" Rachel stared at him and Blaine gulped and glanced down at Amy who was staring at him with her big brown eyes. "I love spending time with Amy," he ruffled Amy's hair gently causing the little girl to giggle quietly, before he lifted his eyes to Rachel again, who stood facing him, biting her lip slightly.

"She loves spending time with you to," she nodded, there was another paused between them, and Rachel sighed quietly, and Blaine felt his chest tighten as she stared at him.

"I guess I'll see you in the morning then?" she asked finally and Blaine nodded once more, before giving Rachel one final glance and turning to walk away. Amy waved after him until he was completely out of sight.

"I wish he was staying with us mummy," Amy sighed, before running through the apartment to the window in the lounge, hoping to see Blaine walking on the street below.

"I wish he was to," Rachel said quietly to herself.

* * *

><p>Shortly after Blaine had left, Quinn called Rachel leaving Puck alone in the lounge with Amy. Amy still wasn't acknowledging Puck's presence, firmly believing that Blaine should be staying with them instead of him. Little did she know but Puck was feeling exactly the same.<p>

"So…" Puck started, hoping to get Amy's attention, it didn't work. She shot a glare in his direction before returning her gaze to the television screen again,

"Why are you here?" Amy asked suddenly,

"Oh, well, um." He paused as he stared mini Rachel in front of him, the inquisitive look on her face that she had obviously inherited from her mother, "I'm here to see your mum."

"How come you've never come before?" she asked, frowning.

"I didn't know where she was," Puck answered honestly, from the little he knew about this little girl, was that she was pretty bright for her age, again a quality he was positive came from Rachel.

"Did you look for her?" Amy continued, "Mr. Blaine did,"

"Well Blaine's a good guy," Puck nodded, deciding to try and change the subject, "Do you like him then?"

"Mr. Blaine is really cool!" Amy gushed, "He knows all of these fun games, and he sings a lot, and he makes my mummy laugh all the time."

"That's good," Puck nodded again, smiling at her enthusiasm,

"But now you're here," Amy pouted, "The last time we saw some of mummy's old friends, we didn't see Mr. Blaine for a very long time, I didn't like that. Mummy was sad,"

"Blaine was sad to," Puck grinned, Amy stared at him and a small smile appeared on her face. Puck knew in that moment that he finally had the little girl on side.

* * *

><p>The next morning after Blaine had arrived to collect Amy. Puck was finally left alone to talk to<p>

Rachel; it didn't help matters that he was feeling nervous at the prospect of meeting his daughter again. When Shelby had left during their senior year he had thought that he'd lost all chances of ever seeing Beth again. Not that he blamed Shelby for leaving, she thought that she was doing the right thing for Puck and Quinn. Quinn couldn't cope with having Beth so nearby and Puck was caught in the middle of not wanting to hurt Quinn anymore, knowing how much giving Beth up had effected her in the first place, and wanting to spend as much time with Beth as humanly possible. But with Shelby in New York, and Puck stuck in Lima. He knew his chances were slim, yet here he was, only an hour away from seeing Beth again. Quite frankly he didn't know what to feel.

"It's okay to be nervous Noah," Rachel smiled as they sat in a quiet coffee shop waiting for Shelby to arrive.

"I'm alright," Puck shrugged, Rachel nodded and wrapped her hands around her warm coffee mug.

"Was Quinn okay with you doing this, I know we talk a lot, but I never know how to bring up Beth and Shelby," Rachel asked,

"We spoke about it, " Puck nodded, "And she seemed okay with it, I offered for her to come with me, but she's busy with Daniel right now. Which I can understand, but she said that she'd think about it though."

"I'm sure she'll come around eventually," Rachel smiled, "She seems pretty settled now with, and she's grown up a lot."

"Yeah, I mean who would've thought that you two would be friends now," Puck smirked; Rachel rolled her eyes and shrugged as she sipped at her coffee, "Speaking of friends," Puck started again and Rachel stared at him over her mug, "What are you going to do about Blaine?" Rachel almost choked on her coffee as Puck continued to stare at her. She spilt some onto the table and spent the first few seconds frantically trying to clean up the mess, rather than look at him.

"So?" he pushed,

"What has Quinn told you?" Rachel asked, still unable to look at him properly.

"She hasn't said a thing," Puck shrugged, "But I'm not blind Rachel, I know you remember?" Rachel lifted her head and shook it adamantly.

"I'm not the same person I was in school Noah, I've changed a lot." She stated.

"I get that. But you haven't changed as much as you think you have, you still have the same expression on your face that you had when you were chasing Finn around McKinley." He smirked again and Rachel's cheeks flushed pink.

"I did _not_ chase Finn around McKinley!" she protested and Puck laughed loudly,

"So you're not denying that there's something happening between you and Blaine?" Rachel smiled shyly at him and shrugged.

"It's complicated Noah, Blaine has been so good to me over the last six months, I don't want to risk losing him. It's not just about me anymore, I have to consider Amy as well now." she explained quietly.

"She loves him just as much as you do Rachel, try again." Puck knew that he was piling on the pressure, but Blaine was proving to be just as stubborn as Rachel was. So maybe if he could get through to Rachel, then this whole mess would be sorted out sooner rather than later.

"I told him I loved him." She said, her voice barely audible,

"So, what. He didn't say it back?" Puck asked,

"He didn't hear, or if he did he obviously doesn't feel the same way." She paused and stared at him. "I told him New Years Eve, I thought it would a nice way of welcoming in the New Year. He hasn't mentioned anything since." Puck shook his head. Really, it was like being back in high school with these two.

"Rachel, the dude loves you." He stated and Rachel shook her head, "He's always loved you Rachel."

"That's not true," Rachel shrugged,

"The dude was a mess when you left," Puck stated, "I mean everyone was worrying about Finn at the time, but Blaine took it worse than the rest of us."

"What are you saying Noah?" Rachel asked,

"I'm saying that he's always been in love you Rachel, but you were both to blind to see it." Rachel smiled at him, and she could feel her cheeks burning as Puck continued to talk. All of these things that she'd felt for Blaine, they weren't just a part of her imagination. Throughout school when she turned to Blaine for things that she probably should have turned to Finn for, it made sense now. She always turned to Blaine more because she always felt more at ease with him. He always made her feel better than Finn ever had. Of course she had always put it down to their close friendship but suddenly everything was making perfect sense now. To hear Noah telling her that Blaine felt the same as she did. Why the hell hadn't she noticed any of this before? The last six months they'd been closer than ever before, surely she should have picked up on something.

"Bottom line Rachel, any guy would be lucky to have you," Puck shrugged, "You just need to make the first move with this one."

"Thank you Noah," Rachel smiled, reaching out and squeezing his hand gently. He smiled at her as her facial expression changed as they both heard the door to the coffee shop opening. Rachel pointed towards the door and Puck turned around slowly, gulping when he spotted Shelby walking towards them, a young blonde girl walking beside her, holding her hand.

"Auntie Rachel!" Rachel smiled as Shelby and Beth joined them at their table, "Where's Amy?"

"She's spending the day with Blaine today," Rachel smiled, before glancing up at Shelby who nodded her head slightly, "I wanted you to meet a friend of mine," Beth stared at Rachel for a couple of seconds before, turning to glance at Puck who was staring at her intently ever since she had entered the coffee shop.

"Beth, this is Noah Puckerman." Rachel smiled, "Noah, this is Beth."

* * *

><p>Blaine meanwhile had arranged to meet up with Kurt, he hadn't really spoken to him since New Years, and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to meet up with him again and talk things through properly. Puck was great and all that, but Kurt was his best friend, he understood Blaine in ways that many couldn't.<p>

"So any more development on the Rachel situation?" Kurt asked casually as he and Blaine watched as Amy ran off to play in the indoor play center, Blaine had heard a few of the parents of the children he taught talk about this place, he thought it would be the perfect thing to do with Amy whilst Rachel was busy with Puck and Beth.

"Not a thing," Blaine shrugged, "I had Puck grilling me on it last night,"

"Well, I bet that was enlightening," Kurt smirked, Blaine rolled his eyes as he tried to ignore Kurt's comment.

"It's just so hard, you know?" Blaine started again, "I mean, how do you tell someone you love them?"

"Come on Blaine, you've done it before," Kurt shrugged

"Yeah, but that was with you," Blaine mumbled, "And we'd already been dating for months before then." Kurt's eyes widened shock as he stared at Blaine. Blaine lifted his head and frowned at the judgmental look on Kurt's face

"Oh don't look at me like that," Blaine shrugged, "You know I haven't been in a proper relationship since we broke up,"

"Yeah, but that was years ago."

"I guess I just haven't found the right person," Blaine shrugged, it was no big deal, so he hadn't told anyone he loved them since Kurt, he wasn't the kind of the guy to say it without actually meaning it. He was only 26 after all, he ha plenty of time to find the right person.

"That, or you were still hung up over Rachel." Kurt stated, Blaine glanced at him and Kurt shrugged. "It's okay to admit it Blaine, I won't get angry."

"I just…" Blaine paused as he tried to gather his thoughts, "Here's the thing, growing up I fought so hard for acceptance, coming out in high school, battling with the morons around me, fighting with my parents for them to accept my decision. Now I'm in love with Rachel, and it's totally new to me."

"It's not that new," Kurt shrugged again, "I guess I always knew that you loved Rachel, no two friends are ever that close without any underlying feelings. You two were always looking at each other the same way I used to look at you when I first transferred to Dalton."

"You all keep telling me this, but what do I do about it?" Blaine asked, really beginning to resent his friends for noticing this about him, but never having the courtesy to mention it to him.

"Just tell her, chances are she'll say it back anyway." Kurt shrugged.

"I told her once," Blaine mumbled, "New Years Eve," he nodded and Kurt frowned at him.

"So why on earth are you still moping over it, that's good right?"

"Our phones were disconnected as I told her, now I'm too embarrassed to ask if she heard." Kurt shook his head and patted Blaine's back gently.

"This has gone on long enough," he stated calmly, "You've been in love with her for almost eight years now. Be a man about it Blaine and just come out and say it."

Blaine nodded and before he had a chance to respond, Amy came running back into his arms. He held onto her tightly and glanced back at Kurt who was grinning at him smugly. Blaine nodded and knew in that moment what he had to do. If it was the last thing he did, he was going to tell Rachel that he loved her and wanted to be with her.

* * *

><p><strong>Final chapter is next! I won't say to much because I don't want to spoil it. But it's a good one :D<strong>


	12. Hello, I Love You

**Once again, I'm so sorry for delay. The annoying thing is, every time that I've sat down to write this, something else has popped up and I've had to take care of that first. But I finally finished this last night, and after tweaking it this afternoon, it's finally ready to post.**

**This is the final chapter, but there will be an epilogue, which I'm currently working on. So hopefully it won't take as long as the last couple of updates have taken. I also have a sequel in the works, because I can't bare the idea of leaving these two on their own just yet. Plus I've taken a liking to Amy, so leave her would be just cruel ;)**

**Thanks again for all your support and patience.**

* * *

><p>"So now I'm still debating what to wear tonight," Kurt continued as Blaine pressed the phone firmly against his ear as he held up a selection of shirts against him in front of the mirror.<p>

"Kurt, your closet is as big as your apartment," Blaine grinned, as he threw shirt after shirt onto his bed, "I'm sure you'll find something suitable,"

"But God Blaine, you should see him!" Kurt gushed, Blaine rolled his eyes and he silently battled against which of the two final shirts he'd wear that night, "He is gorgeous, he's literally everything I look for in a guy and more. I almost died when he asked me out; I just want to make a good impression. The guy works in the fashion industry, I can't just wear anything." Blaine paused and finally settled on a pale blue shirt and hooked the handle onto the back of his bedroom door.

"Kurt, you're the most fashionable guy I have ever known. Just relax, I'm sure everything will be just fine." Blaine smiled as he pulled out a pair of trousers from his closet and hung them up against his shirt.

"Yeah maybe," Kurt said slowly, "So what are your plans for tonight?"

"I'm taking Rachel out, remember?" Blaine sat on the edge of his bed and slowly ran his hand through his hair as the reality of his situation began to set in.

"I forgot that was tonight, so have you decided how you're going to do it yet?"

"I'm taking her out to dinner at her favorite restaurant, then I've bought us both tickets to 'Wicked'"

"Well that sounds very romantic, for someone as out of practice as you say you are." Kurt laughed and Blaine shook his head as he laughed along with his friend, "But seriously, are you sure you're ready to go through with this, I mean it's a big step to take Blaine."

"Kurt, you've been on at me for weeks to say something to Rachel," Blaine sighed.

"No, I know, and I'm happy for you, really I am." Blaine smiled fondly, "I just…aren't you nervous?"

"Kurt, I'm terrified," Blaine answered bluntly, "But I'm also really excited at everything finally being out in the open."

"Well I'm rooting for you both." Kurt told him, the supportive tone reaching out to Blaine.

"Thanks Kurt. Listen, I don't want to be rude, but I'm kind of running late already and…"

"And sitting talking to me isn't helping matters. I get it," Kurt laughed, "Listen, just call me and let me know how everything goes tonight. I want details."

"Ditto," Blaine grinned, "Good luck with Kyle tonight!"

They exchanged goodbyes and Blaine threw his phone onto his bedside table, it landed with a loud thud and knocked against one of his photo frames. He jumped up quickly to prevent it from falling to floor and smiled when he realized what frame it was. He held the photo firmly in his hand and smiled at the image in front of him. It had been taken shortly after he and Rachel had rekindled their friendship back in September. They had taken Amy to Central Park along with Ella and spent the day enjoying the warm autumn sunshine. Looking back now, Blaine thought they looked like the perfect family. He smiled fondly and nodded. Maybe one day, he thought. Maybe one day. Glancing at the photograph one last time, he carefully placed it back onto the bedside table and headed into the bathroom to finish getting ready.

* * *

><p>"So are you all ready for your date?" Quinn quizzed Rachel as she finished getting ready. Rachel rolled her eyes as she pressed the phone against her ear as she finished styling her hair.<p>

"Quinn, as I've already told you. This isn't a date," she paused for a minute as she tried to phrase things in the right way, "We're merely two friends who are going out for dinner on Valentines Day."

"Two friends who happen to be single, and are in love with each other."

"Well yes but…" she paused again as she realized what Quinn has just said. She rolled her eyes and placed her brush onto her dresser.

"Very funny." She remarked as she could hear Quinn giggling on the other end of the line,

"Okay, I'm sorry," Quinn giggled, "But you know I'm right," Rachel sighed quietly as she picked up her purse and walked into her lounge.

"So what about you, do you and Finn have any plans for tonight?" Rachel asked, tactfully changing the subject, she was getting tired of the attention that her 'love life' was receiving recently. If it wasn't Quinn and Puck throwing encouragement her way, then Shelby was there, offering her some advice that wasn't necessary. She'd had to sit through it again earlier that evening when she'd dropped Amy off at Shelby's apartment. Shelby seemed thrilled at the idea of something happening between Rachel and Blaine. As she continued to inform Rachel, she'd always liked Blaine and he was a good fit for Rachel. Rachel had simply smiled politely and nodded before making a quick exit. She still hadn't decided what she was going to do about Blaine yet.

"Well Carol and Burt are taking Daniel for the night, Finn told me he had a surprise for me when he comes home from work, so who knows. I'm just grateful that we get some alone time for once." Rachel smiled and nodded, knowing exactly how Quinn felt, "Listen Rachel, can I give you some advice?"

"If I say no, you'll give it to me anyway," Rachel smirked, and Quinn laughed again.

"I know you don't know where you're head is at the moment with Blaine. But just go tonight and enjoy yourself. Then if something happens, great. If not, then you've had a good night out with a good friend. Don't spend all evening eating yourself up about it." Rachel nodded and smiled gratefully, she hadn't really thought about it that way before.

"Thanks Quinn," The buzzer to her apartment rang loudly and Rachel jumped, "I've got to go, he's here."

"Have fun, call me tomorrow. I want to know details." Rachel laughed and agreed as she hung up. She checked her reflection in the mirror one more time and felt butterflies in the pit of her stomach. Despite telling herself to calm down, it was only Blaine. They had been out to dinner plenty of times before. Why should this be any different?

She buzzed him up into her apartment and took a deep breath, minutes later there he was stood in her doorway, a bright smile on his face holding a single pink rose, with a thin piece of gold ribbon tied neatly around it.

"This," he smiled as Rachel raised an eyebrow at him, "Is for you." Rachel blushed and smiled as she took it from him.

"That's so sweet." She smiled, clasping his hand and pulling him into her apartment with her.

"Well, it would be rude to turn up on Valentines Day without a gift of some sort." He told her and Rachel giggled as she placed the rose at the front of the vase of flowers that was already sitting on her window ledge.

"You're such a gentleman, Dalton obviously taught you well." she grinned, turning back to face him again. He was staring intently at her, and Rachel found herself blushing once more. He'd been doing that a lot recently, but every time she had asked him if he was okay, he'd laughed and told her that he was fine. Blaine quickly cleared his throat when he noticed that Rachel was now staring at him.

"So, are you ready to go?" he asked, she smiled and nodded as she picked up her purse and her keys, and he led her out of the apartment, keeping his hand on her lower back. Rachel felt tingles as his fingers brushed against her, sending her butterflies into overdrive. When they stepped outside, she linked her arm with his as he led the way. She quickly realized that she had no idea where he was taking her, but it was finally dawning on her that it didn't matter where they were, as long as they were there together.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you remembered!" Rachel said in amazement as she stared at the busy restaurant in front of her. She and Blaine had passed this place many times before and Rachel had once told him that had always wanted to eat here. But it was far too expensive on her income.<p>

"Of course, I remembered," Blaine shrugged as if it was no big deal. In fact it had been a huge deal, he'd been calling up everyday for the last month checking for an available reservation. He knew how much Rachel liked this place, he wanted to make this evening as perfect as possible for her. Rachel smiled happily as Blaine checked them in and they waited for their table to be called. They stood near the bar, sipping on their wine as they waited patiently, the restaurant was decorated perfectly for Valentine's Day, and everywhere they looked they were surrounded by loved up couples. Rachel smiled and leant against Blaine happily.

"You okay?" he asked, his breath tickling her ear. She smiled and nodded, not bothering to move. Soon after, they were called to their table, as their waitress guided them through the crowd, Blaine kept his hand on her back at all times, never breaking the contact between them.

"My name is Kelly and I'll be your waitress for the evening," Kelly, their waitress paused as Blaine pulled out Rachel's chair, she smiled as she watched them, "I'd like to thank you both for spending Valentines with us this evening, have you two been dating for long?" Rachel blushed and Blaine almost choked on his wine, Rachel smiled and placed her hand on top of his.

"We're just friends," Rachel told Kelly,

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed, you really look like a couple." Kelly rambled quickly, clearly feeling like she'd put her foot in it.

"We get that a lot," Rachel smiled, rubbing her thumb over Blaine's hand gently "But thank you for the compliment," Kelly nodded and handed them a menu each before excusing herself. Rachel giggled as she squeezed Blaine's hand across the table.

"Are you okay now?" she smirked, Blaine laughed and nodded, his eyes locking with hers. As Rachel stared at him, she found herself becoming lost in his eyes, never noticing before how golden they were. Blaine gulped and blinked quickly; he wanted to blurt it out there and then. But it was only the beginning of the evening, and if he screwed things up now, then the whole evening would be a waste of time. No, he'd wait for now. Instead he smiled and started reading through the menu in front of him.

"Wow, everything looks so good," he commented. Rachel nodded and scanned her own menu, her hand never breaking contact with his.

As the evening continued, the two of them managed to relax, giggling at comments that the other made, Blaine speculating on the couples surrounding them, causing Rachel to laugh so hard she was reduced to tears.

Blaine paid the bill and guided Rachel out of the restaurant, the wine that they had both consumed had also helped to relax them a little, causing Rachel to clasp Blaine's hand as he led her towards Broadway. Rachel stared in awe at the bright lights and sighed quietly, Blaine knew that she missed the thrill of performing; he only had to look at her when she took to the small stage when she was at work. Sure it wasn't the same as performing to a huge audience, who were there purely to hear her sing.

"I still remember the first time I came to New York," Rachel smiled happily as they approached the Gershwin theatre, "Kurt and I broke into the theatre, it was one of the best moments of my life." Blaine smiled and nodded and she recalled the moment.

"Hey, do you remember when we came to New York senior year?" Rachel asked, pausing on the spot and turning to face Blaine.

"Mr. Schue was so pissed that morning," Blaine laughed.

"Well, it was the morning of the competition." Rachel shrugged,

"Yeah, you always were very persuasive," Blaine grinned, nudging her gently.

"With everything going on at that time, being with you that morning, it was the happiest I had been for a while. You helped me forget everything for a couple of hours." Rachel told him honestly, Blaine smiled and squeezed her hand gently.

"I couldn't stand by and watch you mope," Blaine shrugged, "I used to hate it when you wouldn't smile for me. It always brightened up my day."

"You're so cheesy," Rachel giggled, squeezing his hand. Blaine shrugged and fumbled in his jacket pocket for the tickets. Rachel eyed him wearily as he pulled out the tickets and handed them to her. She was silent for a minute as she scanned over them, but her eyes suddenly widened and she looked up at him.

"Blaine, you really shouldn't have," she whispered.

"I wanted this to be a Valentines Day you'd remember," Blaine shrugged.

"You are amazing." Rachel smiled, reaching up and placing a soft kiss against his cheek. Blaine's eyes fluttered close as he felt her breath against his skin. She pulled away and leant against him as he regained his composure, clasped her hand once more and led her towards the theatre.

* * *

><p>"That was incredible!" Rachel gushed as they left the theatre later that night; she had been completely overwhelmed throughout the entire performance. Her eyes never left the stage, but her hand never left Blaine's. He'd been content to sit and watch her the entire evening. He loved seeing her features light up as she watched the show, seeing her mouth along with the lyrics that she still knew so well. That was worth more to him than any performance would ever be. Seeing her so happy and content was more than enough for him. It always had been.<p>

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he smiled as they made their way towards Central Park.

"Thank you Blaine," she smiled, reaching up and kissing him on the cheek once more.

"It was nothing." He shrugged.

"Stop being so modest," she told him, "This has been one of the best nights ever, and it's all because you. So really, thank you."

As they walked lazily through the park with their fingers interlaced with each other's, Blaine glanced at Rachel and could clearly see how happy she was. He knew then, he was ready. He'd spent the entire evening watching her, taking in everything about her, making sure that everything was right before he basically laid himself bare for her. He knew in this moment, that it didn't matter where he told her, or whether it had been an extravagant evening out, or a quiet night at home, all that mattered was how they were both feeling in that moment, and right now. Blaine was in love and he wanted Rachel to know it. He spotted a nearby bench and swiftly guided Rachel towards it.

They sat down and Rachel happily placed her head on his shoulder, sighing contently, as he placed his arm protectively around her shoulders.

"I wish we could do this all the time," Rachel said quietly,

"Maybe we could?" Blaine suggested, sitting up slightly. Rachel smiled and lifted her head to look at him properly; he took her hands inside of his and stared directly into her eyes once more, before taking a deep breath and diving right in.

"There was a reason why I asked you out tonight Rachel," he said quietly. Rachel's eyes widened and the butterflies in her stomach returned again with the full force, but she didn't say anything, she just sat quietly and watched him intently.

"You have always been important to me Rachel, from the first time I met you, I knew you were special, I couldn't ever imagine my life without you. Then when you left, I felt like my entire world was crumbling around me, it was like you had taken a part of me with you." He paused again and took a deep breath as Rachel squeezed his hand gently, silently urging him to continue, "For the last six years, I always felt like there was something missing, but I couldn't put my finger on it, then you and Amy turned up at my classroom and suddenly everything fell into place again."

"Blaine I…" Rachel started and Blaine shook his head.

"Please, just let me finish, okay?" he asked, "I've been trying to figure out a way of telling you this for the last couple of months," Rachel nodded and smiled at him as he took another breath, his rate increasing by the minute.

"I thought that it mattered what I said or where I said it, but I realize now that the only thing that matters is that you make me happier than I ever thought I could _ever_ be," he paused again as he heard Rachel sniff quietly. "When we were at school, you were always there and you made me feel so happy, so complete. I guess I was blind to how I really felt about you, it seems that everyone else knew before I did," he smiled and Rachel giggled quietly, "But the truth is Rachel, I love you, and I think I've always loved you, I just didn't know it." He inhaled deeply and felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, he didn't look at her straight away, scared to find out her reaction. But after a minute or so, and she still hadn't said anything, he lifted his eyes and noticed that she was crying quietly. He smiled softly and lifted a hand to gently wipe away her tears.

"Why are you crying?" he asked cautiously, she smiled and shook her head.

"I'm crying because I'm happy," she told him, "When I left Lima the thought of never seeing you again almost broke me. I didn't think I'd ever see you again, then you walked back into my life and you were just as perfect as you'd always been. I never thought I'd be so lucky to fall in love with my best friend." She paused as she tried to gain her composure again, but the tears were already flowing now, and when she stole a glance at Blaine, she noticed that he was now crying as much as she was. "I love you Blaine, I love that you've accepted me despite what happened to me, I love that you've accepted me and Amy as part of a package deal, but most of all, I love you for just being you." She paused and sniffed quietly, feeling his eyes burning into her "I love you Blaine, and I never want to lose you again." Blaine grinned through his tears and leant forward, cupping her face and pulling her closer to him, capturing her lips in a soft yet passionate kiss.

"Good, because I have no intentions of ever letting you go again," he whispered against her lips. Rachel wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him, as he gently pressed his lips against hers one more time.

* * *

><p><strong>So you got your happy ending! :) I know it was probably cheesy, but that was the ending that I'd always had in mind ever since I started writing the first chapter. A lot of things changed whilst writing this, but the ending was the one thing that always remained the same.<strong>


	13. Epilogue  All I Ever Wanted

**2 Years later…**

'_I missed you last night, I can't wait to see you again.'_

Rachel typed out her response and placed her phone back into her purse, before she stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror in front of her; everything had finally fallen into place. Ever since they had proclaimed their love for each other two years ago, Blaine and Rachel had been happier than ever. It had only taken a couple of months before Blaine asked Rachel and Amy to move in with him, his apartment was bigger anyway, and he didn't see the point in paying to run two apartments when they spent the majority of their time at his place these days anyway. Their relationship had gone from strength to strength since then, Blaine had even managed to convince Rachel to return to school, since Amy was now in full time education. He could tell that Rachel wanted more out of life than just waitressing, so after many discussions and worrying about how they would cope financially, Rachel enrolled herself on a three year teaching course, and in twelve months time she would be fully qualified music teacher. Yes, she was happy now, happier than she had ever been.

"How are you feeling?" Quinn asked as she stood behind her, pulling Rachel from her thoughts. Rachel smiled at her friend's reflection, her eyes lighting up.

"I'm excited!" Rachel answered honestly.

"Really? You're not even a little bit nervous?" Quinn asked again as she turned around and carefully sat down in the seat directly behind Rachel. Rachel shook her head and slowly walked across the room, and picking up a glass of champagne and taking a small sip.

"I was a little nervous the morning Finn and I were due to get married," Quinn admitted, "I mean, I knew he'd show, it was just a big step."

"Blaine and I are ready for this," Rachel grinned, sitting down opposite Quinn, "It just felt like the natural thing to do, you know?" Quinn nodded knowingly as Amy and Beth strolled into the room with Shelby, Hiram and Leroy following closely behind.

"Oh sweetheart, you look beautiful," Leroy gushed as Rachel got to her feet again, and hugged her parents.

"You make a beautiful bride, Blaine is one lucky man," Hiram added, and he hugged Rachel tightly, "We're so proud of you honey." Rachel smiled at them both, they were already tearing up, and Rachel could feel herself tearing up to, she shook her head and smiled at them both.

"Please don't cry, I can't smudge my make-up," she laughed, hugging them both again, they laughed quietly and patted her back.

"Why is everyone crying?" Amy asked loudly, Shelby laughed from behind them, sipping on her own glass of champagne.

"Because we're all really happy," She explained, Amy considered this and nodded before walking over to the mirror to examine her appearance.

"How come we're not allowed to see Dad until later?" she asked, Rachel smiled, she still hadn't gotten used to that.

_It was shortly after Rachel and Amy had moved into Blaine's apartment and Amy was still getting used to the arrangement. She loved getting to see Blaine everyday, and also having a bigger bedroom, but Rachel and Blaine had been extra careful not to force too much on her at once, she was still young and they didn't want to overload her. It was a quiet night, Blaine was sitting in his chair as he checked over his lesson plans for the following week, Rachel was finishing up a piece of her coursework and Amy was sitting in the middle of the lounge curled up against Ella as she watched her __favourite__ television show. Rachel lifted her head and smiled at the scene in front her, it was a typical night at home, but it was still perfect for her. She glanced at the clock sitting next to the television screen and smiled as she closed her books._

"_Come on then Ames, it's time for bed," she announced, Amy turned her head and frowned._

"_Can I stay up a little longer mummy, just five more minutes?" Rachel giggled and shook her head, pushing her books aside._

"_Amy sweetie, you've already had an extra half an hour, you've got school in the morning," Amy pouted and reluctantly got to her feet, Rachel grinned triumphantly as Amy walked over to Blaine, who was watching them with an amused expression on his face._

"_Please daddy, just five more minutes?" she asked clearly, Blaine's eyes widened as he smiled at Amy, obviously caught off guard, he opened his lips, ready to give into her yet again, he was spoiling Amy rotten already, but he caught Rachel's eye who gave him a stern look, and Blaine's expression changed and he shook his head and scooped Amy up and sat her on his lap._

"_Your mummy's right Ames, you've got school in the morning," he smiled, Amy pouted, something she had obviously inherited from Rachel and reluctantly said goodnight to Blaine and Rachel, before slowly walking down the hallway to her own room, Ella following happily behind her._

"_I'll be in to tuck you in a minute," Rachel smiled. Rachel waited for Amy to close the door, before she turned her attention back to Blaine who still had a stunned expression on his face._

"_Hey, are you okay?" she asked, walked over to him and sliding onto his lap and wrapping her arms around him,_

"_She called me daddy," he said quietly, "She's never called me that before." He said, his arms snaking around Rachel's body._

"_Well you're the only dad she's ever known, if you don't like it, I can tell her to continue to call you Blaine?" Rachel suggested, smiling at him, Blaine shook his head and swiftly captured Rachel's lips with his own._

"_No, I like it. It makes us feel like a proper family," he grinned, _

"_I love you," Rachel whispered, _

"_I love you to," Blaine grinned, his forehead pressed gently against hers. Amy never referred to him as Mr. Blaine ever again._

"We'll see him later sweetie," Rachel explained, "I'm not allowed to see him until the wedding."

"Why?" Amy asked, her pose a perfect replica of one that Rachel had perfected over the years.

"I'm not sure why sweetie," Rachel said slowly, glancing over at Quinn who shrugged, Rachel rolled her eyes, so much for helping her out.

"But we'll see him later right?" Amy asked again, Rachel smiled and nodded before Amy skipped to the opposite side of the room to join Beth. Even now Rachel couldn't believe how her life had turned around for the better in the last two years. She watched as Quinn quickly fixed Amy's hair, whilst she talked to Beth. Quinn had eventually come around to the idea of getting to know Beth better, after Puck had made a few visits to New York and returned with photos of her, Quinn became more and more intrigued and after seeking Rachel's advice, she eventually agreed to see how things went if she had a meeting with her. Since then she hadn't looked back. Quinn had her happy life with Finn and Daniel, and also got to know her biological daughter and be a part of her life somehow.

They remained in the hotel suite for a while, the excitement building inside of Rachel as time continued to pass. She knew she wasn't nervous, she just wanted to get things moving. Quinn was getting agitated watching as she paced across the room, checking her appearance, smoothing out her immaculate, figure hugging white dress. Yes, she was more than ready for this, but more than anything she couldn't wait to see Blaine waiting for her at the end of the aisle, she hadn't spoken to him since the day before and she missed him. Yes, it had only been a day, but even that felt like a lifetime to Rachel.

"Rachel?" Leroy tapped her on the shoulder gently, Rachel blinked and peered at her reflection again, before smiling at her dad, "It's time sweetheart,"

* * *

><p>Blaine took a deep breath as he continued to mess with his tie in front of the mirror, Kurt glared at him from his seat and a minute later he was on his feet, correcting Blaine's tie yet again.<p>

"I keep telling you, do _not_ keep playing with this thing," he ordered, Blaine shrugged as Kurt fixed his tied and glared at him.

"Are you really that nervous?" he asked him, Blaine shook his head and laughed,

"Of course I'm not nervous," Blaine shrugged, "I just want to get going, you know?" Kurt rolled his eyes but nodded, Blaine had been checking his watch for the last hour, he knew better than anyone how much Blaine wanted things to move along.

"Yeah, well. The sooner we get out here, the sooner I can be reunited with Kyle," Kurt sighed dreamily; Blaine knew he had lost him then. Kurt had been dating Kyle now for the last two years; yes this was the same Kyle that Kurt had been freaking out about the same night that Blaine was putting his heart on the line. They had just clicked and had been together ever since. He had actually been surprised when Kurt had first introduced Kyle to Rachel and Blaine. He was nothing like Kurt's usual type. He wasn't as out there as Kurt was, and although he worked in the fashion industry, his life didn't revolve around it, unlike Kurt. But Blaine figured that it was their differences that made them unique as a couple. He was a very quiet man, but it was pretty obvious how if felt about Kurt and Blaine found that quite endearing. There was a knock at the door and seconds later Blaine's parents poked their head around the door.

"Blaine honey, oh you look so handsome!" His mum, Sophia, beamed as she walked into the room and pulled Blaine into a strong embrace, "I am so proud of you." Blaine smiled and patted her back awkwardly, unsure of what to say to her. She pulled away and swiftly pulled a tissue out of her bag, when Blaine raised an eyebrow at her she waved it in his face and smiled, "I'm just so happy!" Blaine smiled and glanced at his dad, Charlie, who was also smiling at him.

"Congratulations son," he smiled holding out his hand for Blaine to shake, Blaine shook it and nodded gratefully at him. His relationship with his parents had improved dramatically since they had first met Rachel; they had been so accepting of her, she had charmed them from the word go. Blaine had been angry at first, and refused to talk to them for while, believing that their troubles in the past were to do with Blaine's sexuality growing up. It angered him, how easily they had accepted Rachel in relation to any of his other relationships. But after Rachel had calmed him down and arranged another meet up with his parents he had discovered that he was as much to blame as they were. While they had admitted that they had initially found it difficult to come to terms with his sexuality, he had been just as awkward about the whole thing, so even when they were trying with him, he didn't always want to see that. Over time they had grown apart because frankly none of them knew what to say to each other anymore, but thanks to Rachel, bridges had been built and Blaine felt like he could talk to parents again.

"Rachel is a very lucky young woman," Sophia continued again, pulling Blaine from his thoughts, "I bet she'll look stunning in her dress."

"She'll look stunning whatever she wears," Blaine shrugged, as if he hadn't been thinking about Rachel wearing her wedding dress all morning. Kurt raised his eyebrow at Blaine knowingly, before Blaine glanced at the mirror one final time.

"It's time Blaine," Kurt announced, placing one hand on Blaine's shoulder and using the other to tap Blaine's hands from moving any closer to his tie. Blaine nodded and smiled as his phone vibrated in his pocket, he waved quickly as his parents left the room and left him alone with Kurt once more. Blaine smiled when Rachel's name flashed on the screen, and quickly opened up the message.

'_I missed you to. I'll see you soon, I'll be the one dressed in white,'_

"Are you ready Blaine?" Kurt asked, Blaine nodded and placed his phone in his pocket. He was ready for this; they were ready for this.

* * *

><p>Everyone was seated and Rachel could hear the music playing quietly as she stood in the doorway, she had butterflies, but they were happy butterflies. Quinn handed her the small bouquet of pink roses, and hugged her, wishing her luck one more time before the wedding march started playing loudly and everyone stood up waiting for Rachel to make her grand entrance. Beth and Amy started walking first, hand in hand smiling at everyone as they slowly approached the end of the aisle. Quinn followed shortly after, leaving Rachel alone with her dad's.<p>

"Ready honey?" Hiram asked, Rachel beamed and nodded as she linked arms with both of them, and slowly they began walking down the aisle. Rachel couldn't stop smiling as she spotted various people watching her. She spotted a heavily pregnant Brittany sitting at the end of the aisle next to Artie, Tina and Mike holding hands, having recently got back together. Noah was sat with his new girlfriend – an English teacher from McKinley who he had been happily dating for the last six months. Then sitting next to them were, Mercedes, Santana, Sam and Molly. Who Blaine had introduced a couple of weeks ago when Sam was in town for Blaine's bachelor party. Finn was sitting near the front with Daniel who was holding out his arms for Quinn. Rachel smiled at them all, pleased that all of her friends were there to celebrate with herself and Blaine.

She spotted Blaine as she reached the end of the aisle and his face lit up as her eyes met his, Rachel's butterflies disappeared as her dad's placed her hand into Blaine's. She kissed her dad's on the cheek, before glancing at Blaine again. He squeezed her hand gently and just smiled at her, as everyone took their seats once again.

* * *

><p>"And now I present the newly weds, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson!" There was a huge round of applause as Blaine and Rachel entered the hotel reception hall, hands clasped, and laughing happily with each other. Their friends and family continued to cheer loudly and Blaine thought this was the perfect opportunity to pull Rachel into another kiss. Everyone cheered loudly when their lips collided together and Rachel blushed, as they pulled away. Amy struggled out of Shelby's grasp and ran directly towards the both of them. Shelby sent them an apologetic smile, but Blaine just scooped Amy up in to his arms, and he and Rachel hugged her tightly.<p>

"We just want to thank you all for coming today, you've really helped to make this day special for the both of us," Blaine announced, "So just enjoy yourselves!" He placed Amy back on the ground and clasped Rachel's hand again.

"How does it feel being Mrs. Anderson?" he asked, whispering her ear.

"Like it's the most natural thing in the world," Rachel grinned, kissing his cheek, "Come on, let's go and mingle." She squeezed his hand gently and pulled him towards the New Directions table.

"Congratulations!" Puck grinned, pulling Rachel into a tight hug, forcing her to let go of Blaine's hand, she giggled and hugged him back, Blaine smiled as he watched them embrace, before Puck let her go and shook Blaine's hand.

"Thanks for coming Noah," she smiled,

"Wouldn't miss it for the world babe," Puck shrugged, Rachel smiled gratefully as she leant against Blaine, "Oh yeah, this is Jennie," Puck grinned as he finally introduced Rachel and Blaine to his new girlfriend. Jennie giggled as Rachel leant forward to hug Jennie.

"It's lovely to finally meet you," Rachel grinned,

"You to," Jennie agreed, "It was such a lovely service, and you look beautiful," Rachel blushed as Blaine placed his arm around her waist tightly, and glanced at the rest of the group.

"We'll catch up with you both later," Rachel smiled, "Have a glass of champagne and enjoy yourselves," Puck and Jennie nodded as Blaine and Rachel walked over to where the rest of the group were sitting, it didn't come as a surprise that Molly had joined them. She didn't really know many of Blaine's friends, other than a couple of teachers that Blaine had invited, but she seemed to have taken a liking to Sam, and the feelings were mutual, especially as he'd started talking about moving to New York to open a music store, apparently his Justin Beiber tribute act wasn't earning him much of a living these days.

"How does it feel now you're married?" Tina asked, Rachel glanced at Blaine waiting for his answer, he grinned and shrugged.

"Well, I've never been married before, but it feels pretty awesome." Rachel laughed and patted his chest.

"Good answer," she grinned, reaching up and kissing him.

"You two are sickly sweet," Santana stated in the background.

"It's our Wedding Day," Blaine shrugged, "So if I want to do this," he kissed Rachel again, causing her to laugh, "Then I will." He smirked and even Santana couldn't help laughing.

"Yeah, well congratulations and all that." Blaine laughed and thanked her, before he and Rachel excused themselves again, with promises of catching up again later. What had started off as a small intimate wedding had quickly turned into a vast affair, where money was no object. Hiram and Leroy had stated that they wanted nothing but the best for Rachel and Blaine, and they were worth every penny. Sophia and Charlie had also contributed a considerable amount.

* * *

><p>"Speech!" Kurt tapped the side of his champagne glass, and gradually the room fell silent, and all eyes were on him, "Yes, thank you." Rachel and Blaine laughed, as they waited for him to continue.<p>

"For those of you who don't know me, I'm Kurt Hummel and I'm the best man," There were a few cheers, coming mainly from the New Directions table, Rachel giggled and glanced across the table to where Kyle was sitting staring at Kurt with nothing by affection.

"I'm going to make this quick, because there is nothing worse than sitting and listening to endless speeches," Blaine groaned quietly and placed his head his hands; Rachel laughed and patted his back.

"I'm going to take the credit for these two getting together by the way," Kurt announced proudly, Rachel and Blaine stared at him disbelief and Kurt shrugged, "Well you wouldn't have met each other if it wasn't for me." Blaine glanced at Rachel and nodded, causing Rachel to giggle.

"People always say at these things that it was love at first sight, and it probably was, only they didn't know it at the time. But something in the two of them just clicked and they were inseparable from that day. Then almost three years ago, they were reunited and their love blossomed into something beautiful." Rachel smiled and clasped Blaine's hand, "If I can have just a smidge of the happiness that they've got, then I will die a very happy man." Kyle reached out and clasped Kurt's hand. Kurt smiled back at him, and raised his champagne glass, "To Blaine and Rachel, The Anderson's!" Kurt glanced over at Blaine who smiled at him gratefully.

Hiram and Leroy followed next, but their speech wasn't as clear as Kurt's as been, as they were both feeling very emotional after watching their only daughter get married and finally finding her own piece of happiness. Rachel had even got up from her seat to hug them both, as she started crying quietly. The speeches ended and the band started playing music loudly again, Blaine excused himself again, leaving Rachel talking to Quinn and Kyle.

"What's he up to?" Quinn asked,

"I don't know, but I think Kurt's involved in some way," Kyle shrugged Rachel smiled and shrugged. Ever since she had met Blaine again, she had not only gained a husband, she had also found herself a tight group of friends.

"So what did you pick for your first dance?" Kyle asked,

"Blaine picked the song," Rachel shrugged, "That was something he wanted to do on his own,"

"And you let him? You're Rachel Berry, music is your thing!" Quinn laughed.

"Actually I'm Rachel Anderson," Rachel grinned, "I trust him, he does have very good music taste."

"I'll agree to that," Kurt grinned, approaching them again and linking arms with Kyle.

"I thought Blaine was with you?" Rachel asked, Kurt smirked and pointed up to the stage.

"I'd like to invite my wife to the dance-floor," Blaine beamed, Rachel giggled as she slowly walked over to him, "May I have this dance?" he grinned holding out his hand to her. Rachel nodded and placed her hand delicately inside of his. The music playing loudly and Blaine pulled Rachel closer against him. Everyone cheered loudly as they stood around watching them both dance.

"_First day that I saw you, thought you were beautiful._

_But I couldn't talk to you I watched you walk away._

_And it felt like I spent, all of that second day._

_Trying to figure out what it was that I should have said._

_Third day saw you again, introduced by a friend._

_Said all the words I wanted to._

_On day four and five and six, I don't know what you did._

_But all I could think about was you."_

Rachel smiled as she recognized the song; she placed hands around Blaine's neck and molded her body against his.

"What do you think?" Blaine asked quietly.

"It's perfect," she smiled contently.

"_Thought I couldn't want you, more than I did before._

_But everyday I love you a little bit more._

_Find myself asking, what are you waiting for._

_Cause everyday I love you a little bit more."_

Rachel glanced around her as gradually people began to join them on the dance floor, Puck and Jennie, Kurt and Kyle, Mike and Tina; Quinn had even managed to persuade Finn to dance with her this once. Rachel smiled at her friends, and then noticed Sam and Molly dancing to their side, she tapped Blaine's shoulder and nodded in their direction. Blaine grinned and kissed the top of her head.

"_Days they turn into weeks, that's how good this has been._

_Still I can't believe the way this first year has flown._

_Still you catch me by surprise, when I look in your eyes._

_When you turn and say that you love me"_

"I love you," Rachel whispered, as Blaine pulled her closer and moved her along with the beat of the song. She could feel Blaine's hands gently trace over the dress, she felt tingles as they connected with her bare skin. Rachel tightened her grip on Blaine, never wanting to let him go.

"_Thought I couldn't want you, more than I did before._

_But everyday I love you a little bit more. _

_Find myself asking, what are you waiting for. _

_Cause everyday I love you a little bit more."_

Blaine began whispering the words to the song into Rachel's ear, as he gently spun them around, he caught Kurt's eye across the dance floor, who was happily dancing with Kyle, and they smiled at each other, sharing a look of understanding.

"_Day one I first laid my eyes on you._

_Day two I can't help but think of you._

_Day three was the same as day two._

_Day four I fell in love with you._

_Day five you're spinning with me._

_Sixth day knocked me off my feet._

_Day seven that's when I knew._

_I'd spend the rest of my life with you."_

Blaine brought his head back to kiss Rachel gently, before whispering along with Rachel as the chorus kicked in again.

"_Thought I couldn't want you, more than I did before._

_But everyday I love you a little bit more._

_Find myself asking, _

_What are you waiting for. _

_Cause everyday I love you a little bit more."_

Rachel leaned forward to press their lips together in another gentle, chaste kiss, before dropping her chin down to rest of Blaine's shoulder. She could feel Blaine's breath on her skin and smiled as she tightened her grip on him.

"_Everyday, knowing I'm gonna see your face_

_And that's enough for me. _

_I want you more and more and more everyday._

_I wanna spend my life with you,_

_Everyday learn something new,_

_I love you more and more and more everyday._

_I love you more_

_I love you more_

_I love you more"_

Everyone stopped and applauded as the song came to a close, everyone except the newlyweds, who remained in their own private bubble. They were so blissfully happy; everything was perfect and today was only the start. The band started playing a new song and the newly weds separated slightly and shifted over to where Kurt, Kyle, Quinn and Finn were stood watching them.

"So what did you think of the song?" Blaine asked

"It was perfect," Rachel smiled, "You're perfect," she kissed him again and Blaine pulled her closer to him.

"I can't wait to spend forever with you," he whispered against he lips

* * *

><p><strong>And that's the end :) Well for this one at least. I have got an idea for sequel in mind, so keep a look out for that.<br>But I hope you liked what I did with this, I think that Blaine and Rachel both deserved a happy ending. It kind of draws a line under the story, ready for the next chapter of their lives. Oh and their wedding song is 'Love You More' by JLS. Again, it was always going to be their wedding song, because I felt like it connected to their story. **

**Thanks to everyone who has read this, put it on alert and especially whose who have commented on this. It means so much to me, and it's you guys who have kept me writing, even if my updates haven't always been as regular as they could have been. So thank you for sticking with me. Until next time! :D**


	14. Author's Note

Just a quick Author's note!

As promised, I'm writing a sequel to this. It's called 'Doing it Our Way' and focuses on the Anderson's two years after their wedding, and following them as they embark on the next stage of their lives together.

Thanks for sticking with me through this, you guys have been awesome! I really hope that you enjoy reading the sequel :)


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